Human Trafficking in [Russia] [other countries]Street Children in [Russia Child Prostitution in [Russia] [other countries] |
Prevalence, Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children In the
early years of the 21st Century - 2000 to 2010 gvnet.com/streetchildren/Russia.htm
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CAUTION: The following links and accompanying text have been culled
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FEATURED ARTICLE *** Life on the Streets Joyce Man, This article has been archived by World Street Children News
and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 14 July 2011] With their collected funds, ***
ARCHIVES *** ECPAT Global Monitoring Report on the status of action
against commercial exploitation of children - THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION [PDF] ECPAT International, 2006 www.ecpat.net/A4A_2005/PDF/Europe/Global_Monitoring_Report-RUSSIA.pdf [accessed 14 July 2011] Sexual exploitation of minors
occurs in all regions in The root causes for the
involvement of children in commercial sexual exploitation in Russia are
poverty, family conflicts, alcoholism, drug abuse in the home, violence,
neglect and poor living and housing conditions. In the north, most child
victims are vagrants (due to the same causes), orphans or have no parental
care. Their involvement in prostitution is also often linked to a dependency
on alcohol and/or drugs. UNICEF - www.unicef.org/infobycountry/russia.html [accessed 14 July 2011] The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on the Worst Forms
of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/russia.htm [accessed 20 December 2010] INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Economic downturn, the deterioration of social services, increase
in domestic violence and the breakdown of family structures have led to an
increase in the number of street children in the country. Estimates of the number of street children
range from 100,000 to 150,000, with possibly 4 million additional children at
risk of living on the streets.
Homeless children often receive no education, are more susceptible to
substance abuse, and frequently engaged in criminal activities, including
prostitution, to survive. Without
educational opportunities or family support, youth form or join gangs or
groups and turn to crime. Children
work in informal retail services, sell goods on the street, wash cars, make
deliveries, collect trash, and beg. Human Rights Reports » 2005
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61671.htm [accessed 20 December 2010] CHILDREN - Estimates of the number of
homeless children ranged from 2 million to 5 million. According to the MVD,
approximately 109 thousand vagrant minors were removed from the streets and
public places in the first quarter of 2004 alone. According to the Moscow Department
of Social Security, 12 percent of street children who ended up in shelters
have run away from orphanages or boarding schools. Law enforcement officials
reportedly often abused street children, pinned the blame for otherwise
unsolved crimes on them, and committed acts including extortion, illegal
detention, and psychological and sexual violence against them. According to
the Public Verdict Foundation, prosecutors refused to bring charges in 80
percent of cases of alleged police misconduct towards such minors. Homeless
children often engaged in criminal activities, received no education, and
were vulnerable to drug and alcohol abuse. Some young girls on the streets
turned to, or were forced into, prostitution to survive. Local
and international NGOs provided a variety of services for the homeless. Many SECTION 6
WORKER RIGHTS – [d]
Accepted social prohibitions against employment of children and the
availability of adult workers at low wages generally prevented widespread
abuse of child labor. Nonetheless, children working and living on the streets
remained a problem. Parents often used their children to lend credence to
their poverty when begging or had them beg. Homeless children were at
heightened risk for exploitation in prostitution or criminal activities. Human Rights Reports » 2004
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41704.htm [accessed 5 March 2011] CHILDREN - The status of many children has
deteriorated since the collapse of communism because of falling living
standards, an increase in the number of broken homes, and domestic violence.
In Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of
the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 30 September
2005 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/russia2005.html [accessed 20 December 2010] [74] The Committee expresses its concern
at the increasing number of street children and their vulnerability to all
forms of abuse and exploitation, as well as the fact that these children do
not have access to public health and education services. The lack of a
systematic and comprehensive strategy to address the situation and protect
these children is also of concern to the Committee. Drunken Nation: Nicholas Eberstadt, World
Affairs Journal, April 21, 2009 georgiandaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11213&Itemid=72 [accessed 14 July 2011] School enrollment is sharply lower
for primary-school-age children—99 percent in 1991 versus 91 percent in 2004.
And the number of abandoned children is sharply higher. According to official
statistics, as of 2004 over 400,000 Russian children below 18 years of age
were in “residential care.” This means that roughly 1 child in 70 was in a
children’s home, orphanage, or state boarding school. Russia is also home to
a large and possibly growing contingent of street children whose numbers
could well exceed those under institutional care. According to Human Rights
Watch, over 100,000 children in Russia have been abandoned by their parents
each year since 1996. If accurate, this number, compared to the annual tally
of births for the Russian Federation, which averaged about 1.4 million a year
for the 1996–2007 period, would suggest that in excess of 7 percent of
Russia’s children are being discarded by their parents ... Partnership to Prevent HIV Among Vulnerable Russian Youth [accessed 14 July 2011] Estimates indicate that there are
up to 10,000 street children and youth in Experts See Drop in Number of Street Kids Irina Titova,
The [accessed 14 July 2011] Lou Michel and Susan Schulman, The Buffalo News, At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 14 July 2011] These ragtag kids are It’s a similar scene in Moscow,
where city police point to a group of youths hanging out at the Metro train
station at Ilyinsky Square. They wait for the
pornographers the same way the prostitutes wait for johns. “It’s a popular
spot,” Police Investigator Sergei Sokolov said. Stopping sexual abuse of Russian kids Cesar Chelala M.D., The search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20070911cc.html [accessed 20 December 2010] Children engaged in prostitution
frequently belong to families in extreme poverty, and characterized by
alcohol and drug addiction or a hostile family atmosphere. In other cases,
they are orphans who have made the street their home. – htsccp Life on the Streets Joyce Man, This article has been archived by World Street Children
News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 14 July 2011] With their collected funds, Delivering hope to Rachael Hughes, October 14 2006 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 14 July 2011] While it was inconceivable in Maria's Children Dr Jan Adams, MD, Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent
Medicine, Vol. 160 No. 5, May 2006 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 14 July 2011] This is a population that is
undernourished, understimulated, underbonded, undereducated (both academically and in life
skills), and abused in nearly every physical, sexual, and psychological way
imaginable. There are exceptions of course, but the average government
orphanage is a grim place indeed, understaffed with underpaid and overworked
employees. The result of this hopeless
situation for these forgotten children who are anathema in their own country
is a nearly 25% suicide rate and, without intervention, a life span that
averages 25 years. The children, unprepared in any way for the challenging
Russian life, are dumped out of the orphanages at age 16 years. They are
offered few options in life—cannon fodder for the army, various criminal
occupations such as drug trafficking and prostitution, or work in paint or
shoe factories (which are highly toxic). They are lost to disease, drug and
alcohol addiction, white slavery, and the military along with suicide and
violent death. Russian Runaways Find Few Willing
To Help Them Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, www.csmonitor.com/2001/1219/p7s1-woeu.html [accessed 14 July 2011] Oleg Mukhin
lives with several friends in a hollow beneath the platform of The Street Children Project in V Rev Myron Effing, C.J.D., At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 14 July 2011] Rachael Hughes from Assessment Mission To St
Petersburg [DOC] -- Time frame: February 7th -12th
2001, Locations: Hugh Griffiths, Médecins du Monde www.lakareivarlden.org/files/St%20Petersburg%20rapport%20eng.doc [accessed 27 September 2011] HUMAN RIGHTS, LEGAL ISSUES &
LAW ENFORCEMENT - One
of the principle barriers standing in the way of street children accessing
their right under the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child to
medical care is the fact that many of them lack the correct documentation.
The "Propiska" is the stamp in the
internal Russian passport which notifies doctors, nurses, police and the
health authorities that the holder of the stamp is registered in a certain
city, town or village. If the person seeks state medical care in a region
outside his or her "Propiska" area, then
he or she will be denied it. An ever increasing number of the
children living on the streets of Similarly, both street children
and heroin users are subject to beatings and illegal detentions by certain
police officers. Heroin users are often actively persecuted by police
officers. Such persecution can be lawful when heroin users break Russian
legal codes. However, drug users are subject to arbitrary arrest, police
break new syringes and females are often exposed to sexual misconduct on the
part of the police. Letter from Carel de Rooy, UNICEF Representative in Russian Federation and
Belarus Carel De Rooy,
UNICEF At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 14 July 2011] However, life in the street was
not an easy one either. “You can not survive in the street unless you are a
member of some group of loitering youngsters”, he says. “And you need to make
your own contribution to the group’s income by means of begging or stealing.
Otherwise, you’ll stay hungry or can even be beaten”. Dima had to do all
these terrible things in order to survive. He was only eight years old at
that time! Aid Group Alleges Massive Child-Trafficking in Radio Free Europe/Radio [accessed 20 December 2010] An aid group says more than 30,000
children and teenagers go missing every year in Sergei Komkov,
president of the Russian Fund for Education, blamed Russian politicians for
addressing the problem of street kids only during election campaigns. He said
government aid to help street kids this year has dropped by 15 to 20 percent.
Komkov said the majority of homeless
youngsters in Russia are not orphans but have fled broken and violent homes.
– htsc Kids
struggle to survive - Prefer homelessness to cruel treatment in shelters Douglas Birch, www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/6032-7.cfm [accessed 14 July 2011] They flutter through the Kursky railway station like flocks of dirt-smudged
pigeons, sniffing glue fumes out of plastic bags, begging for money from
strangers and scattering as police approach waving nightsticks. These are Homeless
Children -- Helpless Victims Of Collapsing Welfare, Family Systems Francesca Mereu, June 20, 2002 www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/6317-3.cfm [accessed 14 July 2011] Dmitriy, who has been living in
the Way Home shelter for four years, fled The Photographic Portfolio of John Kaplan www.johnkaplan.com/pages/russia3.html [accessed 14 July 2011] Sergei: A Loss of Freedom. He is again a
helpless little boy as shelter workers give him a bath and check for lice.
Sensing a loss of freedom, Sergei refuses to sleep in the shelter for more
than a few nights at a time. The Photographic Portfolio of John Kaplan www.johnkaplan.com/pages/russia1.html [accessed 14 July 2011] Sergei: The Airport is His Home. Sergei
Mayorov, 8, has been alone on the street in Consortium for Street Children 2003 At one time this article had been archived and may possibly
still be accessible [here] [accessed 14 July 2011] This organisation
aims for social rehabilitation of street children through a centre that
responds to their physical needs and offers various programmes
for their support. Youth leaders are identified among the street children and
invited to participate in a leadership process through training and joint
activities with social workers. Children face street curfew in
Moscow Michael Binyon, The Times ( www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/6038-11.cfm [accessed 14 July 2011] Kaladze is mother to Erik Tryggestad, The Christian
Chronicle, Molodozhnoe [accessed 14 July 2011] They’re not alone. Research from a
university in St. Petersburg shows that the number of street children in the
city of 4.2 million is at least 16,000, according to a local newspaper. And 77 percent of these children — some as
young as 9 — work exploitative and dangerous jobs, according to the
newspaper. Many are addicted to
chemical substances. Model glue, squeezed into plastic bags and sniffed, is
especially popular. Street Children www.copris.com/sgroup/street/kids-e.htm At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 14 July 2011] There are about 2 million street
children in On this page you can see some
organizations which really help to homeless kids in different regions of Love's Bridge - Empowering Love's Bridge 2009 [accessed 14 July 2011] Welcome! Love’s Bridge is an
organization dedicated to empowering street youth in Russia to overcome their
addictions, resume studies and become self-reliant. We currently run two
centers for street children and underprivileged young people in the city of
Perm, which is situated near the border of Europe and Asia. Medecins Sans Frontieres
MSF, 20.04.2004 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 14 July 2011] "These teenagers need a place
to turn to", explained MSF project coordinator Gabriella Muretto.
"They come from all over the former Soviet Union and have ended up on Voice of the Children Voice Of The Children [accessed 14 July 2011] That cold morning in 1993 was the
beginning of Alex's journey into the world of Programs in Russia Russian Children’s Welfare Society At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 14 July 2011] HOMELESS SHELTERS - For hundreds of thousands of
children in Sarah Rainsford, BBC News, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1780436.stm [accessed 14 July 2011] "My stepfather's an
alcoholic. He used to shout at me and hit me. So I left. Now I live here, at
the station. I sleep on central heating pipes, or on a train. The police
sometimes pick us up, but they always let us out again." No Help For Chechnya’s Street Kids Amina Visayeva
in At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 14 July 2011] As a result of traditional Chechen
attitudes, the children are ashamed to beg, but try to earn their money by
finding jobs. Children have suffered
terribly from the decade of war in Yana Voitova,
iwpr.net/report-news/north-ossetia-lost-street-children [accessed 14 July 2011] Fifteen-year-old Diana looks like
a child, but before she arrived at the Vladikavkaz Center For Young
Offenders, she was making a living from prostitution. The street girl’s
services were extremely cheap: just one dollar for oral sex. The Center, in the capital of the North
Ossetian republic, will not provide a permanent home to Diana and other
street children like her. After a month, unless she is sent on to a unit for
more serious offenders, she will be sent back home – or back onto the street. Few Choices for Fred Weir, Christian Science Monitor, 16 November 1999 www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/3626.html#6 [accessed 14 July 2011] [scroll down if necessary to #6
Christian Science Monitor 16 November 1999] Fourteen-year-old Oksana Smirnova is a
recent recruit to Group Raises Alarm For Reuters North America, pangaea.org/street_children/russia/russia3.htm [accessed 14 July 2011] A million children are homeless in
Russia and the nation's youngsters suffer an indifference symptomatic of a
grave sickness in society. Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation: The Case of the Prepared for the International Organization for Migration
IOM by Prof. Donna M. Hughes, June 2002 www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/russia.pdf [accessed 20 December 2010] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - For others, such as the new
groups of street children and orphans which did not exist in Russia ten years
ago, they are recruited at an early age, virtually sold into slavery, and may
never know another way of life. This is true for countless young Russian
girls and boys, some as young as 12 years of age, who may later become a part
of criminal syndicates themselves and perpetuate this phenomenon. In this
way, more and more people without options are lured into sub-human and
degrading conditions, often for the rest of their lives. - htsccp 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 [Russia] [other countries]Street Children in [Russia Child Prostitution in [Russia] [other countries]