Prevalence,
Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children In the first
decade of the 21st Century gvnet.com/streetchildren/Mexico.htm
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CAUTION: The following links
and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the
situation in HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspect(s) of street life are of particular
interest to you. You might be
interested in exploring how children got there, how they survive, and how some
manage to leave the street. Perhaps
your paper could focus on how some street children abuse the public and how
they are abused by the public … and how they abuse each other. Would you like to write about market
children? homeless children? Sexual and labor exploitation? begging? violence? addiction? hunger? neglect? etc. There is a lot to the subject of Street
Children. Scan other countries as well
as this one. Draw comparisons between
activity in adjacent countries and/or regions. Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. Teachers Check out some of
the Resources
for Teachers attached to this website. ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Tod pangaea.org/street_children/latin/mexico.htm [accessed 20 June
2011] 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 *** Human Rights
Reports » 2004 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41767.htm [accessed 27 March
2020] CHILDREN
-
There were an estimated 1,200 street children in Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, , 8 October 1999 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/mexico1999.html [accessed 20 February
2011] [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. A fish catching
miracle in Mexico Bill Bell, Vallarta
Living, February 2009 www.banderasnews.com/0902/vl-catchamiracle.htm [accessed 20 June
2011] When you walk down
the cobblestoned streets and peer in the open doorways you will find Mexican
children that are well-loved, hugged, kissed and doted upon. Yet travel up
into the Sierra Madres coastal mountains to the state capitol of Tepic and
you will notice abandoned children scrounging the streets and landfills for
anything of value. Much like the homeless now found on the North Shore, they
sleep under bridges and in abandoned buildings. The big difference here is
these are children as young as four and five years old, many forced out on
the street because they were physically and sexually abused. "While ministering
in the prison in Tepic in 1968, Gonzales saw several little boys among the
inmates," said now director, Russ Krube.
"When he questioned the warden, he was told that the boys were homeless
street children. Since there was no children's home in the entire state of
Nayarit, they had no choice but to put the boys in with the adult
prisoners." Buckner explores
needs in Mexico Analiz González, Buckner
International, January 25, 2008 www.baptiststandard.com/resources/archives/48-2008-archives/7458-buckner-explores-needs-in-mexico [accessed 11
Aug 2013] “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. Prizes for
Communities Fighting Exclusion Darío Montero, Inter
Press Service News Agency IPS, www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40420 [accessed 20 June
2011] www.ipsnews.net/2007/12/latin-america-prizes-for-communities-fighting-exclusion/ [accessed 24
December 2016] "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 - Harger heads nonprofit
aiding victims of poverty Claire Pelley, The
Clarion ( www.duclarion.com/2.971/gsis-graduate-helping-mexican-children-1.46652 [accessed 20 June
2011] duclarion.com/2007/10/gsis-graduate-helping-mexican-children-3/ [accessed 24
December 2016] 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 Emilio Godoy, Inter
Press Service News Agency www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38872 [accessed 20
February 2011] www.ipsnews.net/2007/08/rights-mexico-16000-victims-of-child-sexual-exploitation/ [accessed 24
December 2016] 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 Sofia Miselem, Agence France-Presse www.banderasnews.com/0705/nr-oldprostitutes.htm [accessed 11
Aug 2013] "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. Delivering hope Marla Jo Fisher, The
Orange www.ocregister.com/travel/children-19014-perez-mother.html [accessed 20 June
2011] [scroll down] CHILDREN LIVING
ALONE ON THE STREETS
- No one is quite sure exactly how many private orphanages are operating in 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 Nancy Flores, El
Universal, November, 2006 Click [here]
to access the article. Its URL is not
displayed because of its length [accessed 20 September
2011] 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. Diego Cevallos, Inter Press Service News Agency www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35033 [accessed 20 June
2011] www.ipsnews.net/2006/10/mexico-oaxaca-children-in-protest-camps-not-classrooms/ [accessed 24
December 2016] 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. Catherine Bremer,
Reuters, togetherwiththechildren.org/includes/Reuters_August%202006.pdf [accessed 20 June
2011] www.banderasnews.com/0608/edat-kidsonstreet.htm [accessed 24
December 2016] 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. Mexican Street
Children Facts & Statistics www.mexico-child-link.org/street-children-definition-statistics.htm [accessed 20 June
2011] policyoptions.pbworks.com/w/page/17512484/*%20Mexico-%22Street%20Children%22 [accessed 24
December 2016] Mexico City has
1,900,000 underprivileged and street children. 240,000 of these are abandoned
children. (Action International Ministries) In the central area
of 20% survive by
begging, 24% by selling goods, and others by doing
subcontracting work. Meet Fernando, Just
Ann M. Augherton, www.catholicherald.com/detail.html?sub_id=2986 [accessed 20 June
2011] 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 www.mexico-child-link.org/street-children.htm [accessed 20 June
2011] 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 There are many
reasons why children are abandoned & left homeless, such as domestic
violence & family breakup, as well as economic migration of the parents
to the The child with
learning disability is much more likely to be abandoned because s/he cannot
contribute economically to the family from an early age. Street Children at
High Risk of AIDS Adapted from: Diego Cevallos, Inter Press Service News Agency IPS, August 18,
2003 www.thebody.com/content/art29534.html [accessed 20 June
2011] 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 A-Infos News Service, April 16th, 1998 www.ainfos.ca/98/apr/ainfos00175.html [accessed 20 June
2011] 20 street children
(boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 18) who live in the sewers close
to the metro Street Children in
Trouble Kristen Smith, El
Universal/El Gran Diario de México, 30 April 1997 pangaea.org/street_children/latin/mexkids.htm [accessed 20 June
2011] 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 Ben Schonveld, l'Organisation Mondiale contre la Torture OMCT
(The World Organisation Against Torture), www.antenna.nl/news/hr/women/mn00207.html [accessed 20 June
2011] 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 Oasis En-Gadi At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 20 June
2011] There are said to
be up to 2,500 street children in Bringing street
kids to the light; New center in Kenneth D. MacHarg, Latin America Mission LAM News Service, across.co.nz/StreetKids-Mexico.htm [accessed 20 June
2011] "We have some
parents who need their children to earn the living for them," she
reflects. "People just don't give as well to an adult begging as to a
child. We have found five and six year olds who are just all alone, living in
the park." Sue, a native of Change for Good
celebrates 10 years of changing children's lives At
one time this article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible
[here] [accessed
20 June 2011] 2004 FUNDING – Street Outreach Covenant House At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 20 June
2011] 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. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this webpage as: Patt,
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