Human Trafficking in [Mexico] [other countries]Street Children in [Mexico Child Prostitution in [Mexico] [other countries] |
Prevalence, Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children United Mexican States ( The United
Mexican States [map] is a North American republic bordered by the United States
(N), by the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea (E), by |
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in *** FEATURED
ARTICLE *** The morning sun streaked across
12-year-old Eloy's emaciated face as he and his
girlfriend, Margarita, greeted the new day from a discarded red velour
armchair they had shared the previous night outside a ***
ARCHIVES *** UNICEF - The Big Picture Bur of Democracy, Human
Rights & Labor - Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices - 2004 CHILDREN - There were an estimated 1,200
street children in Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 1999 [30] While welcoming the fact that
the State party's legislation complies with international labor standards and
the measures taken for the eradication of child labor, the Committee is still
concerned that economic exploitation remains one of the major problems
affecting children in the State party. The Committee is particularly
concerned that the State party, in its second periodic report, categorized street
children as working children. The Committee is of the opinion that
this misconception affects the scope and perception of this social
phenomenon. In this regard, the Committee is particularly concerned that a
large number of children are still involved in labor activities, especially
in the informal sector and in agriculture. The Committee expresses its
concern at the insufficient law enforcement and the lack of adequate
monitoring mechanisms to address this situation. Buckner
explores needs in Mexico Mexico has hundreds of
people-groups with dozens of languages, lifestyles and dialects. In the
cities, adults often crowd into forsaken rooms in overpopulated barrios. At least 1 million homeless children live
in Mexico City, often raising each other on the streets. Mexico City is the
largest city in the Americas—15 million people accounted for, and probably
many more. “Most of the people who live in
this area are not originally from Mexico City,” Martinez said. “They don’t
have steady salaries, and sometimes they have to go away to find work, and
they leave their kids alone and with no food.” Some women trek 30 minutes for the free
meal with babies tied around their backs in pieces of cloth and other children
walking by their side. Some children go alone. LATIN
AMERICA: Prizes for Communities Fighting Exclusion "Street kids suffer social
stigma. They are all viewed as drug dealers, and that's not the case. Drug
consumption has increased all over the country because of the sealing of the
border with the United States, and street children have become the first
victims in this fight against drug trafficking." The Morelos
centre works with 80 children and young people who live on the streets, and
another 150 who come in on a daily basis and receive specific support for
their formal education studies, and efforts are made to convince their
parents to take them out of the labour market, in
return for a grant to compensate them for lost income. Meanwhile, the Children's Education Centre
in Colonia Ajusco, in the
south of the city, only looks after working children, of whom there are
already 230. "But even within the Mexico
City government, proposals are being made to 'clean up' the historic centre
and remove the street kids from the area, because it's a tourist attraction
and it should look nice," she complained. Such policies are often
expressions of "social cleansing", and violate the children's human
rights, she said. GSIS graduate helping Mexican children Each year, JUCONI
improves the lives of 350 street children in the areas of education, basic
health and lifestyle choices that will take kids off the streets of Puebla and into the classroom. However, their focus goes
well beyond the basic needs of the children. The program also targets more
than 150 parents to help create better lives for the entire family. They have
created permanent positive life changes in more than 80 percent of the
children they work with. According to Harger
their work isn't finished until the whole family has reached their
goals. "They're with [JUCONI] as long as it takes. It's usually three to five years,
but we have some families that have been with us for nine years." She
explained. "The families just have different hurdles to overcome." RIGHTS-MEXICO:
16,000 Victims of Child Sexual Exploitation International organisations
fighting child sex tourism say Mexico is one of the leading hotspots of child
sexual exploitation, along with Thailand, Cambodia, India, and Brazil. Another chilling statistic is that
95 percent of Mexico City’s 13,000 street children have already had at least
one sexual encounter with an adult. - htsccp Old
homeless prostitutes in Mexico get a home "It was very cold and I saw some
cardboard boxes moving on the sidewalk. They were old prostitutes sleeping on
the street, and right then and there I decided I had to do something about
it," the former prostitute told AFP. It is not pretty and is located in
La Merced, one of Mexico City's most violent neighborhoods, where street
walkers charge less than four dollars a session, but Munoz is proud and her
tenants are grateful for the facility. CHILDREN LIVING ALONE ON THE
STREETS - No one is
quite sure exactly how many private orphanages are operating in Baja
California. Though these establishments are called orphanages, most of the
children's parents are alive. Some kids have been abandoned. In other cases,
parents are simply too poor and desperate to keep them. The Mexican government estimates some 6,000
children are living on the streets in the Tijuana area, though other
researchers have put that count as high as 20,000. Children have been rescued
foraging for food in the city dump. One woman took in three little girls she
found living under a car after their mother died. Some migrants making their
way to the U.S. leave their children behind at orphanages, planning to return
someday to collect them. Other kids have parents who are prostitutes or drug
addicts. While the Mexican government will
pick up street children, it must look for places to put them in private
homes, since there is no government system of foster care. Adoption is difficult
and discouraged. "An orphanage is
actually like Camelot – it's ideal," Perez said. "It's the ultimate
location." Art
project aims to help homeless kids At 14, Martín
Cruz was faced with a major life decision: Should he leave his home or stay
in a toxic family situation? Cruz left. And after bouncing between temporary
homes and shelters, he had no choice but to join thousands of children who
live on the streets of this megalopolis. Oaxaca
Children in Protest Camps, Not Classrooms In Oaxaca, the average number of
years of schooling is six years, lower than the national average of 7.8
years. Half a million people aged 15 and over cannot read or write in this
state with a population of 3.5 million, of whom 1.1 million are indigenous
people. According to official
statistics, 112,000 children between the ages of five and 14 do not attend
school in Oaxaca, representing 12 percent of the children in that age group. Mexico's
wealth divide keeps kids on street When night falls, 34-year-old
Ernesto Portillo takes a bag of toy cars, board games and sweets, jumps on
his moped and weaves through the dark streets of the colonial Mexican city of
Puebla. An unconventional charity worker,
his job is to roam around trying to befriend the scrawny kids as young as 6
who live under the city's bridges and squat in open-air market stalls. In 10 years, Portillo has got some
200 kids off the street and into care. He has also been chased off, taunted
by drunks, called a pervert and threatened by a terrified 11-year-old boy
wielding a rock. The morning sun streaked across
12-year-old Eloy's emaciated face as he and his girlfriend, Margarita,
greeted the new day from a discarded red velour armchair they had shared the previous
night outside a Mexican
Street Children Facts & Statistics Meet
Fernando, Just One Street Kid in Mexico City He is a con man, a beggar, an
entrepreneur and perhaps the mayor of his "little town." His town
is Plaza Francisco Zarco, a square in Abandoned &
homeless: Street children with a learning disability In a relatively well off society,
the child with learning disabilities is generally well cared for, usually at
home within the family. In a
developing country such as Mexico: Street Children at High Risk of AIDS According to experts' estimates,
as many as 7 percent of the approximately 20,000 youngsters
ages 13-17 who live on the streets of Beating Of Twenty Street
Children In Mexico City By Police 20 street children (boys and girls
between the ages of 12 and 18) who live in the sewers close to the metro Street children face violence from
police and labor exploitation, but most of them cannot file a complaint with
the México City Human Rights Commission because they have no birth certificates,
said Vega. "Without a birth
certificate it's as if they do not exist. They cannot file complaints. They
can do nothing," he said. Persistent
Violations Of The Human Rights Of
Street Children Of Both Sexes Responsibility for these acts
appears lies with private security guards, agents of the police force and
judicial police. According to the information, these three bodies both public
and private operate, often in collusion, in the North Central Bus Station, Guadalajara is the second
biggest city in Mexico There are said to be up to 2,500
street children in New center in Mexico will
reach homeless girls The Change for
Good celebrates 10 years of changing children's lives 2004 FUNDING – MEXICO - In Mexico City a donation of
£150,000 helped street children by funding various education and support initiatives
including an anti-violence programme in schools to
help prevent children working on the streets in the first place. Almudo.com works to improve the
lives of street children through the technology, resources and people of the
World Wide Web community. STREET OUTREACH - The objective of Street
Outreach is to invite Street Youth to participate in a Residential Program so
that they may leave the streets, and of their own volition, begin the process
of education and rehabilitation. Covenant House Mexico (known locally as Casa
Alianza Mexico) uses a holistic approach to care
wherein the team of street educators initiates contact with the children,
intending to build a non-judgmental, trusting relationship based upon mutual
respect. Youth are offered support and assistance with immediate needs, such
as first aid. Once they have decided to leave the streets, youth are invited
to enter into one of the Casa Alianza residential
programs. ACERCATEL - Acercatel
(01-800-110-1010) is a 24-hour
telephone hotline for youth in crisis. Acercatel
provides emotional support, information, counseling, referrals and crisis
intervention for young people facing a variety of problems including family
conflict and sexual trafficking. Last year Acercatel
responded to more than 13,000 crisis calls. All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC §
107 for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use |
Human Trafficking in [Mexico] [other countries]Street Children in [Mexico Child Prostitution in [Mexico] [other countries]