Human Trafficking in [Malawi] [other countries]Street Children in [Malawi Child Prostitution in [Malawi] [other countries] |
Prevalence, Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children In the early years of the 21st Century -
2000 to 2010 gvnet.com/streetchildren/Malawi.htm
|
||
|
CAUTION: The following links and accompanying text have been culled
from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** More street children as Malawi food crisis deepens afrol News (African News Agency), 5
February www.afrol.com/News2003/index_maw003.htm [accessed 17 June 2011] Grinding poverty, family breakdown
and HIV/AIDS are among the main reasons why children come onto the street in Life on the streets www.dailytimes.bppmw.com/article.asp?ArticleID=11504 [Last access date unavailable] Mavuto, not his real name, is
fourteen-years-old. Born in Neno, his parents died two years ago. Consequently his
frail grandmother assumed the responsibility of taking care of Mavuto and his two young siblings. Mavuto says that
lack of food and other basic amenities forced him to leave the village and
start a new life as a street beggar in the city of Blantyre. As a result he has been a consistent
beggar for close to two years, moving through the streets, begging for
change. “I do not have any place I
call home. Most of the times, I sleep without any covers together with my
friend in that restaurant,” says Mavuto, pointing
in the direction of an old tin-made structure. “Older boys and minibus touts often beat
us up and rob us of our meager resources,” he admits. Last week Mavuto
was raped and sodomized by two men.
“It was on Wednesday around midnight when two men entered our shelter
and asked for a space to sleep,” he explains. “Almost immediately they produced knives
and ordered me to undress. When I tried to protest they threatened to kill me
if I refused or shouted out,” says Mavuto. As he talks Mavuto
bows his head, his eyes cast down, sweater shielding his young face. “Then they introduced their members into
my anus. One after another. I was sodomized right in my room,” he says. But it wasn’t the first time. And
according to Mavuto, he isn’t the only young boy on
the streets in Blantyre to experience this. “When I was just a novice beggar I was
also sexually assaulted, that was before I knew that these things happen,”
says Mavuto, who never reported the rapes to the
police. “I live in a very dangerous
environment,” he admits. ***
ARCHIVES *** UNICEF – www.unicef.org/infobycountry/malawi.html [accessed 17 June 2011] The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on the Worst Forms
of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/malawi.htm [accessed 19 February 2011] INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - A 1999 study estimated the number of children on the streets of
three major cities to be roughly 2,000.
Approximately 22 percent of primary school age girls were not in
school, and another 60 percent of those enrolled were found not to attend
school regularly. Indirect costs of
education, family illnesses, and lack of interest in education are lowering
school attendance CURRENT
GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND PROGRAMS TO ELIMINATE THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR - The Ministry also collaborates with stakeholders to form
the National Task Force on Children and Violence, which deals with child
labor as well as other threats to children’s health and well being. Street children receive assistance through
the Department of Social Welfare and the Ministry of gender, Child Welfare,
and Community Services. Human Rights Reports » 2005
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61579.htm [accessed 19 February 2011] CHILDREN - More than half of the country's
children lived in poverty, mostly in rural areas. Children in rural
households headed by women were among the poorest. Only one‑third of
children had ready access to safe drinking water, infant mortality was high,
and child malnutrition was a serious problem. On June 21, the government
launched a National Plan of Action for Orphans and Vulnerable Children to
mitigate the impact of poverty and HIV/AIDS on the country's estimated one
million orphans. A few charitable organizations
attempted to reduce the number of child beggars in urban areas; however, the
problem of street children worsened as the number of orphans whose parents
died from HIV/AIDS increased. Extended family members normally cared for such
children and other orphans. Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of
the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1 February 2002 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/malawi2002.html [accessed 19 February 2011] [53] While noting the challenging
socio‑economic situation, the Committee remains concerned at the
increasingly high number of children who do not enjoy their right to an
adequate standard of living, including children belonging to poor families,
AIDS orphans, street children and children living in remote rural areas. In addition, the Committee is concerned at
the lack of a social security system that would ensure access to health
services for children. [65] The Committee expresses its
concern at the increasing number of street children and at the lack of
specific policies and programs to address this situation and to provide those
children with adequate assistance. Life on the streets www.dailytimes.bppmw.com/article.asp?ArticleID=11504 [Last access date unavailable] Mavuto, not his real name, is
fourteen-years-old. Born in Neno, his parents died two years ago. Consequently his
frail grandmother assumed the responsibility of taking care of Mavuto and his two young siblings. Mavuto says that
lack of food and other basic amenities forced him to leave the village and
start a new life as a street beggar in the city of Blantyre. As a result he has been a consistent
beggar for close to two years, moving through the streets, begging for
change. “I do not have any place I
call home. Most of the times, I sleep without any covers together with my
friend in that restaurant,” says Mavuto, pointing
in the direction of an old tin-made structure. “Older boys and minibus touts often beat
us up and rob us of our meager resources,” he admits. Last week Mavuto
was raped and sodomized by two men.
“It was on Wednesday around midnight when two men entered our shelter
and asked for a space to sleep,” he explains. “Almost immediately they produced knives
and ordered me to undress. When I tried to protest they threatened to kill me
if I refused or shouted out,” says Mavuto. As he talks Mavuto
bows his head, his eyes cast down, sweater shielding his young face. “Then they introduced their members into
my anus. One after another. I was sodomized right in my room,” he says. But it wasn’t the first time. And
according to Mavuto, he isn’t the only young boy on
the streets in Blantyre to experience this. “When I was just a novice beggar I was
also sexually assaulted, that was before I knew that these things happen,”
says Mavuto, who never reported the rapes to the
police. “I live in a very dangerous
environment,” he admits. Vasco's Story: Running to Stand Still Cathleen Falsani, Huffington Post, www.huffingtonpost.com/cathleen-falsani/vascos-story-running-to-s_b_70268.html? [accessed 17 June 2011] They said to be careful, to not
get too close, to not let "it" get to me,
to not become overwhelmed or "too emotional." After about three weeks of behaving myself
and keeping my head and heart in check while traveling through east Africa, I
did exactly what they said not to do.
I fell in love. Hopelessly, helplessly, achingly in love. His name is Vasco. He's 10. It was love at
first sight on my part, though I can't speak for the Malawian child who has
broken my heart with his. Street kids miss family values Duncan Mlanjira, The Daily
Times, 16 July 2007 www.dailytimes.bppmw.com/article.asp?ArticleID=5726 This article has been archived by World Street Children
News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 17 June 2011] “From what we have discovered,
most of these children are not orphans, they have
parents whose marriages broke up.
“Most of them are from single parent homes and are encouraged to go
into the streets to beg because they are not well provided for at their
homes,” he said. He said it was wrong
to give the children money because such handouts encouraged them to stick to
the streets. Miss Marcus Muhariwa, 05 December
2006 This article has been archived by World Street Children
News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 17 June 2011] Almost clocking six months basking
in the glory of being “I have learnt that not all
children that we see loitering in the streets of our cities and towns are
orphans. They have parents and guardians and these people simply don’t have
the capacity to support the children’s education and provide them with the necessities,”
she said. Dickson Kashoti, 06 November 2006 This article has been archived by World Street Children
News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 17 June 2011] The population of street children
in Kaluluma said she was concerned with
reports that some watchmen in Lilongwe were cashing in on street children by
charging a fee when the street kids sleep on the verandas of shops. “The government would take drastic action
against such watchmen. There is no need to charge these poor children, the
government would not sit back and watch,” warned Kaluluma. Lack of love in homes increasing street children Chikumbutso Ndaferankhande
, 20 October 2006 This article has been archived by World Street Children
News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 17 June 2011] One of the facilitators Phoebe Kufeyani said unfair and biased treatment of orphans by
guardians in homes force them join the streets. She added in the face of HIV
and AIDS, orphan hood was on the increase. She decried the tendency of
property grabbing by relations, which makes the deceased children poor. Street children to benefit from Scout Extension Project Patrick Msowoya, 04 September
2006 This article has been archived by World Street Children
News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 17 June 2011] Hundreds of street children in Chiefs Commissioner for Scouts
Association of Malawi Evans Mphalasa said this on
Saturday during launch of the project. He said his association has targeted a
number of street kids who will go under formal training aimed at incorporating
them back into society. Mphalasa said during the initial pilot
phase for the project, the Scout Association of Malawi intends to identify
over 40 children who will be taught life skills under a number of scouts
clubs currently operating in the city. CHILD DAY concentrates on street children Deborah Nyangulu, 15 May 2006 This article has been archived by World Street Children
News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 17 June 2011] This year’s International Day of
the Child, which falls on June 16, would concentrate on the street kid,
Minister of Gender, Child Welfare and Community Services Joyce Banda has
said. Banda made the revelation last week
when she lunched with street kids supported by a Farmer’s World feeding programme under the Support the Child initiative. The Gender Minister said street kids face a
lot of hardships but get very little help because they are only deemed as
street criminals. Handouts encouraging street kids Jacob Nankhonya, 25 April 2006 This article has been archived by World Street Children
News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 17 June 2011] The tendency by rich people to
give out money and gifts to youngsters is one of the factors encouraging kids
to be on the street. More street children as afrol News (African News Agency), 5
February www.afrol.com/News2003/index_maw003.htm [accessed 17 June 2011] Grinding poverty, family breakdown
and HIV/AIDS are among the main reasons why children come onto the street in Consortium for Street Children – Consortium for Street Children cfsc.trunky.net/content.asp?pageID=29®ionID=4&countryID=37 [accessed 17 June 2011] The rise in street children
numbers is the result of worsening economic conditions aggravated by the
breakdown of extended family structures and the impact of the HIV/AIDS
pandemic. An estimated 25% of the urban population is infected with HIV;
there are an estimated 1.2 million children orphaned Our work with victims of abuse Rita Hieble, Missionary Sisters
of Our Lady of Africa MSOLA, At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 17 June 2011] STREET CHILDREN IN True Stories - Street children in Malawi Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 17 June 2011] Emmanuel problems with stealing / Maloyano stole food / Doreen, an orphan accused of
witchcraft./ Nakiline, an adolescent mother, raped
/ Child Labour Rages On In Charles Ba, News from www.newsfromafrica.org/newsfromafrica/articles/art_522.html [accessed 17 June 2011] Poverty and cheap labor are
factors that have fueled child labor in the country. Child labor has deprived
the Malawian society of a skilled and educated workforce for the future and
so perpetuating the cycle of poverty. Street Children – The Situation by Martyna
Bec [access information unavailable] Martyna Bec’s
report highlights the situation facing many children in Street Children's Ministry — The Salvation Army, www1.salvationarmy.org/ihq/www_sa.nsf/0/113775350FD038DD80256E58004EEB29?openDocument [accessed 17 June 2011] Every Wednesday lunchtime eight
dedicated young people from Heather Loomes, The Salvation
Army Click [here]
to access the article. Its URL is not
displayed because of its length [accessed 25 September 2011] The number of children varies.
Often there are up to 60 or so children, and other weeks there are fewer. On
arrival, two helpers walk around the railway the market finding the
children and telling them we are by station. There are also around 20 adults
who know they will be offered food if there is any left after the children
have been served. Many of the adults are blind and several have other
physical disabilities. I never saw them go without any food. Man BBC News, 10 June, 2003 news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2978568.stm [accessed 17 June 2011] Since 1998, the club has worked to
enable hundreds of children to return to school or start apprenticeships in
skills such as carpentry and metal work.
Many of these children have also been reunited with families. Kondanani [accessed 17 June 2011] BACKGROUND - The need for the establishment
of the orphanage arose due to the high rate of HIV/Aids infection in the
country, which is continuing to rob many children of their parents. The
extended family system in Due to the fact that many other
orphanages would not admit babies because of the cost, and the fact that it
is labour-intensive, Kondanani embarked on
admitting such babies rather than leaving them to die in the villages. The
first baby was admitted to Caring Hands Infant Home on 7 November 1998. Our criteria for selecting the
children are: that all our children come from poor families, only babies
below the age of 6 months are admitted, every child is either affected or
infected by the HIV/Aids pandemic. Hundreds of children are orphaned
or abandoned in SOS Children in SOS Children's Villages www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/sponsor-a-child/africa/malawi [accessed 17 June 2011] At the beginning of 2002, SOS
Malawi reacted to the growing AIDS epidemic with a community outreach
program, which is coordinated by the All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE
RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT ARTICLES.
Cite this webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Street Children - |
Human Trafficking in [Malawi] [other countries]Street Children in [Malawi Child Prostitution in [Malawi] [other countries]