Human Trafficking in [South Africa] [other countries]Street Children in [South Africa Child Prostitution in [South Africa] [other countries] |
Prevalence, Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children In the
first ten years of the 21st Century -
2000 to 2009
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CAUTION: The following links and accompanying text have been culled
from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLES *** American musician takes on the system www.news24.com/Regional_Papers/Components/Category_Article_Text_Template/0,,1806_2233293%7EE,00.html At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
"A lot of organisations
aimed at helping these kids simply come in and try and get them to conform
without first discovering what their needs are. But in order to really help
them you need to build a foundation first and not just go in and tell them
what to do. "People seem to either think
they are delinquents, or they pity them, thinking they must have come from an
abusive background. Yes, many of their previous circumstances may have been
tough, but what people don't realise is that the
street life is addictive. These kids have the freedom to move around as they
please. Many of them will choose to stay where they are, living by their own
rules." And that, Brown says, is the
greatest problem. "The structure in this country is flawed. Children
here are making decisions for themselves they are too young to make." Joburg lets its children speak NON-PHYSICAL NEEDS - The message that came out of
the summit was clear - giving shelter to these children was not enough. Many
of the children in shelters seemed to receive adequate physical care in the
form of shelter, clothing, food and schooling. But their emotional and
vocational needs were not being catered for satisfactorily. Two breakaway sessions took place:
in the first the children spoke freely about their experiences. All made
"similar comments about their situations, and identified [similar] difficulties
and shared aspirations for future improvements". Difficulties included
being subjected to further abuse by so-called caregivers, constantly facing
danger, being bored because of a lack of recreational facilities and peer
pressure to use drugs and alcohol and engage in prostitution. It also emerged that they found
the term "street children" stigmatised
them; they, in turn, saw themselves only as "ordinary human
beings". Despite the difficulties they
experienced, the majority indicated that they preferred living in shelters to
their own homes. "Many children acknowledged that the shelters were
safer than their homes and that they were receiving an education," the
report noted. Fundu Shezi
(nicknamed "Bandlani") has just turned
20. He has spent more than half his life on the streets of Durban. His skull
and face are badly scarred and there is an aura of great sadness about him. "When I was a baby my mother
did not want me," he says.
"She threw me into an open sewer at Umlazi.
A social worker found me and took me to the police. They put me in the Ocean
View Children's Home. "Later I
went to a foster mom, but I was unhappy. She took the government grant, but
was unkind about my mother. She was looking after five children, but she
drank a lot. I was with her from six years old and when I was 10 I went on
the streets. "As I grew up, I
started to smoke cigarettes, and then zol (dagga).
I became addicted to glue on the streets. When I came here I decided to leave
those things. "I have been told
that I have a brother and a sister who live in a place of safety. I would
like to meet them one day. I have a lot of anger towards my mother for
throwing me away. I dream about it all the time. How could she do that? I
have so many questions. The young boy slumps against his crutches on a Point Road street corner, eyes misty and unfocused. His feet are twisted grotesquely, flipperlike, his skin grey from malnutrition. He scans the throng, looking for his supplier. She will bring her covered basket, containing the glass bottles he needs to get him through another day. His skin itches with anxiety as he awaits his fix. For just a couple of rands children living on the streets of Durban can block out the ugly reality they inhabit, and descend into a numbing parallel world for a little while; a world where there is no cold or hunger, strangers don't point and stare, and loneliness doesn't feature. ***
ARCHIVES *** Runaways - Where To Turn For Help Before You Are Homeless Here are the best phone numbers to
call …They are Confidential - which means they won't tell anyone about your
call unless you want them to talk to somebody for you, or you are in
danger. They are open 24 Hours - it
doesn't matter what time you call In
South Africa, call 0800-05-5555 A Video Playlist for South Africa - There are an increasing number
of street children videos now available that constitute a supplementary source
of information for researchers, especially for those who may not have
experienced the reality of street children.
[Playlist developed by Brian Horne of almudo.com & streetkidnews.blogsome.com] UNICEF - The
Big Picture U.S.
Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - In urban areas, children work as street hawkers, especially around
taxi stands and near public transportation, and as car guards. There are reports that child prostitution
is increasing. There have been reports
that some cities are becoming destinations for tourists seeking sex with
minors Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 CHILDREN – The government was generally
committed to children's welfare. The law provides for greater educational
opportunities for disadvantaged children‑‑traditionally black
South African children‑‑through a uniform system for the
organization, governance, and funding of schools. It mandates compulsory
education from ages 7 to 15 and ensures that children cannot be refused
admission to public schools due to a lack of funds. According to the 2003
Statistics South Africa General Household Survey, approximately 97 percent of
children between 7 and 15 years old were enrolled in school. Those not
enrolled tended to be children with special needs The government donated land and
buildings for various shelters for victims of sexual abuse, street children,
and orphans. Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2000 [18] While the Committee notes
that the principle of non-discrimination (article 2) is reflected in the new
Constitution as well as in domestic legislation, it is still concerned that
insufficient measures have been adopted to ensure that all children are
guaranteed access to education, health and other social services. Of
particular concern are certain vulnerable groups of children, including Black
children; girls; children with disabilities, especially those with learning
disabilities; child laborers; children living in rural areas; children
working and/or living on the streets; children in the juvenile justice system;
and refugee children. Zimbabwean
girls seek opportunity in South Africa www.chicagodefender.com/article-4433-zimbabwean-girls-see.html
Sofia Chimhangwa,
a 14-year-old in a denim skirt, lies on the concrete under a filthy blanket.
Her 15-year-old friend sits next to her, braiding a legless Barbie's hair.
Sofia says she survives because the other girl's 19-year-old boyfriend helps
feed them both when the coins they beg don't stretch far enough. "We shouldn't be here on our own. I
know that," Sofia said. Her big sister helped her get to the border from
Zimbabwe's capital Harare. After eight months in this border town, Sofia is
not ready to go home because she cannot yet take money back to her widowed
father. She is among an increasing
number of young Zimbabweans setting out on their own to escape their
homeland's economic ruin, bringing both a child's naive sense of invincibility
and a grown-up desire to help their families. Musina is "not a good place,"
Tracy said. "There are no jobs. There's no place to stay. A lot of
robbery. Girls are forcing themselves into prostitution to get money. And
others are forcing themselves into temporary marriage, to stay with boyfriends
for security." However, she said
she would not discourage any young Zimbabwean girl from coming here, adding
she would likely return herself one day — a measure of the desperation in her
homeland. With an economic free-fall,
collapsed hospital infrastructure and deadly cholera epidemic, aid agencies
are feeding most of the population in Zimbabwe. For many Zimbabweans, the
only road to survival remains the one leading to South Africa. First, men left in search of work. As
times got worse, women, too, had to leave. And finally children. Children
flee Zimbabwe to uncertain future www.mg.co.za/article/2009-01-11-children-flee-zimbabwe-to-uncertain-future
Prince Jelom
has sold eggs, carried bags and pushed trolleys to survive life as a
13-year-old on the run from Jelom is one of 100 Zimbabwean children
sleeping in a crowded tin-roofed garage at a Musina
church, set up as a shelter for scores of young Zimbabwean boys found
wandering the streets. Living rough,
often eating from rubbish bins, the street children are casualties of the
worsening crisis at home where deadly cholera has come on the back of chronic
food shortages, mind-boggling inflation and the collapse of hospitals and
schools. Therapy surfing for street kids www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=904495 UMTHOMBO’S surfing club plays a true
therapeutic role in the lives of street children connected to the project,
says its CEO Tom Hewitt. Sunday Times reported this week how Umzumbe surfing hero, Sandile Mqadi, is using the sport (the stoke)
to reach out to youngsters in Umthombo is also unique in that it is
mostly staffed by former street children who know the immediate needs of
vulnerable children and have been trained in child and youth care. Fifteen of the 27 employees formerly lives on the streets. www.mg.co.za/article/2008-11-10-children-under-the-sun
Dagoretti
is a slum area in Nairobi where Amref has its
children's centre. At any time the centre is jammed with kids ranging from
three years to early 20s getting their musical band ready for the day's
practice. Elizabeth
Nyawira is a tall, lanky girl in the Jua Kali Drummers. About 15 years old
and from a poor family, she took to the streets a few years ago, rummaging
through bins for food and to salvage what she could to sell to the scrap
buyers. "That's where Amref found me,"
says the budding musician. Daniel
Njoroge (23) was an angry, aggressive youngster
when he came to the children's centre. His survival during his life on the
street sometimes meant feeding on cat carcasses. He was also on a constant
high from drugs. Now he's not only back at school but also training 15 street
kids in music. Cold
drives kids to shelters but streets beckon in summer www.weekendpost.co.za/main/2008/08/23/news/nl03_23082008.htm
Where have all the street children
gone? If you have wondered about the sudden disappearance of the children who
used to beg at traffic lights and car windows, then blame the cold
weather. Shelters say there has been
an increase in the number of children looking for refuge. “We‘ve noted that every year
between June and August more children come here for shelter because it‘s
usually cold out there in the streets. We give them blankets, mattresses,
warm clothes and food.” She said in summer the children
often returned to the streets. Claudio, 16, who has been in the
shelter for the past two months, dropped out of Missionvale
Primary in Grade 5 last year. His
grandmother died last year in October, “but that‘s not the reason I landed in
the streets. I think it‘s the bad decisions I made and (bad) influence from
my friends,” he said. “We make money
by begging, or keeping an eye on parked cars. When we have money we buy drugs
like dagga and mandrax. We sniff glue to keep our
bodies warm in winter because it becomes impossible to sleep in such cold
conditions covered by plastic or cardboard boxes.” Street
children building new lives for the elderly www.theherald.co.za/herald/2008/07/30/news/n14_30072008.htm Street children and other
youngsters at risk are to build homes for elderly people living in
dilapidated shacks in Knysna. Youngsters at Sinethemba,
a day centre for street children in Khayalethu on
the outskirts of Knysna, are receiving carpentry
lessons from local pastor Faan Muller and have
built workbenches and a workroom at the centre. Sinethemba
provides meals and lessons which include numeracy,
literacy and life skills. It does not provide overnight accommodation and
street children are collected in town each day. "I work for a children's rights organisation
in the Police
did not beat streetkids But the Daily News reader, who
watched the proceedings from her flat in the nearby Caribbean block of flats,
was adamant that while the police burned the children's rubbish, plastic and
cardboard, they did not hurt them. The
children, whom she thought were aged between 12 and 18 years, had been in the
same area for weeks, hanging up their clothes, urinating and littering the
area. They also used a nearby tap and left it running, she said. Food first, then we talk politics www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=788902 This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] Despite the cold weather, Vusi was wearing a short-sleeved shirt when The Times spoke
to him. He shivered in the winter-afternoon breeze. His only sources of warmth are a fire,
which other street children gather around, and a threadbare blanket he shares
with a younger friend. “It is painful
living here. I just want a place to stay and I would love to go back to
school,” he said. But Vusi can’t go home. “My father died when I was still
very small and I don’t know the rest of my family because they don’t like my
mother ... she drinks a lot. So I have to go out and beg for money to get
something to eat,” he said. The child-rights organisation South African Missing and Exploited Children
estimates that 60000 children live on South Africa’s streets. According to
its statistics, about 1000 children are murdered in South Africa every year,
24000 child sexual abuse cases are reported annually and 1500 children
disappear. Like Vusi,
many youths are not reflected in these figures because they are not reported
missing and are not registered with a shelter. Prostituted girls’ parents not found www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=786159 This article has been archived by
World Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] Their parents did not try to find
them and it seems the only person who wanted them was the pimp who sold
them. Durban police have not found the
parents of two girls, aged between eight and 12, whom they rescued two weeks
ago. A man had allegedly been selling them on the city’s notorious Mahatma
Gandhi Road (formerly Point Road) for sex. The girls lived on the streets and
the police have not established where they come from. They are being cared for at a safe house
but, according to those who assist street children, the likelihood of the
girls returning to the streets is high. “Right now, these two little girls
do not realise that they have been saved — they
feel like they are being punished. One has to understand the mentality of a
street child to understand why they run away,” he said. “I am almost certain that these
girls are missing the friends they bonded with on the streets and they also
miss the money they were getting from the pimp.” - sccp Fundu Shezi
(nicknamed "Bandlani") has just turned
20. He has spent more than half his life on the streets of Durban. His skull
and face are badly scarred and there is an aura of great sadness about him. "When I was a baby my mother
did not want me," he says.
"She threw me into an open sewer at Umlazi.
A social worker found me and took me to the police. They put me in the Ocean
View Children's Home. "Later I
went to a foster mom, but I was unhappy. She took the government grant, but
was unkind about my mother. She was looking after five children, but she
drank a lot. I was with her from six years old and when I was 10 I went on
the streets. "As I grew up, I
started to smoke cigarettes, and then zol (dagga).
I became addicted to glue on the streets. When I came here I decided to leave
those things. "I have been told
that I have a brother and a sister who live in a place of safety. I would
like to meet them one day. I have a lot of anger towards my mother for throwing
me away. I dream about it all the time. How could she do that? I have so many
questions. Bulelwa Hewitt said the one redeeming
feature of her former life on the streets was the spirit of caring she
experienced among the other children.
"We shared the little we had, and showed ubuntu.
Street children have lost everything else, but they cling to that vital bond.
When one of them is sick, the others nurture that child." SCORN - "Zodwa* fled to
the streets of Durban because her mother sold her to a stranger for sex. She
was nine years old. Two years later, she tested positive for HIV. "Over the years she has learned to
survive through prostitution and the support of fellow group members,"
Hewitt explained of another street girl.
"She learned to sniff glue very early on to smother fear and
physical pain. She lives on a corner near the harbour
with the members of her group. Truck drivers stop at night and beckon her and
her friends to their vehicles.
"For Zodwa, 'work' involves performing
sexual acts on truck drivers and local men, letting them penetrate her
fragile body. If you ask her about this 'work' she is ashamed. She sees
herself as the dirty one.
"Sometimes she gets really sick. She rolls herself into a ball
under a pile of old clothes and cardboard on the street corner, shutting the
world out for days on end. She gets thin. Sleep is an escape. She is bright
and informed. She knows exactly what happens when you have full-blown Aids.
She waits, just her and her glue bottle." The young boy slumps against his
crutches on a Point Road street corner, eyes misty and unfocused. His feet
are twisted grotesquely, flipperlike, his skin grey
from malnutrition. He scans the
throng, looking for his supplier. She will bring her covered basket,
containing the glass bottles he needs to get him through another day. His
skin itches with anxiety as he awaits his fix. For just a couple of rands
children living on the streets of Durban can block out the ugly reality they
inhabit, and descend into a numbing parallel world for a little while; a
world where there is no cold or hunger, strangers don't point and stare, and
loneliness doesn't feature. Commander*, 15, followed his elder
brother on to the streets a number of years ago. He wants to return home, but
the pull of the streets is strong. He expressed doubt that he would be able
to be reintegrated into his community.
"The streets are no good, though. There is no respect and you
cannot learn," he said.
"Many of the children sniff glue to take away stress, but it
hurts our legs and knees. It's not easy to quickly leave glue because it is
in our blood. "It is dangerous for other
children to come to the streets, but they are always running away from
something. Some run because their mothers are not interested in them. That is
my story. I have hope. One day I will go home. One day I will go to school
again. Yes, I will go to school!" Fuelled
by the desire to make a difference The loss of family to HIV and
Aids, poverty and abuse are some of the reasons children end up on city
streets. Mellis related a recent incident that
brought her to tears. "It was
pouring with rain and I found a small boy huddled in a doorway. His face
wasn't familiar, so I stopped to question him. "He said he was 13 years old and came
from Umlazi. Both his parents had died, followed by
the aunt who was caring for him. He had no one left in the world." Putting
street kids' needs first SKEWED - "Readers need to examine
the issues of why the children come to the city, and what happens to them on
the streets. The popular misconception is that: 'Kids like it on the
streets'. In our experience they always run from something. There is always a
'push factor'. "Umthombo
sees reintegration as the only viable future for street children. The organisation provides both temporary support and
long-term assistance to help former street children find new families or mend
fractured family relationships. Their new environment is regularly monitored
to make sure it is conducive to healthy childhood development. "When the government subsidy
dries up as a child turns 18, he or she has no option but to return to street
life. If they had been reintegrated into communities instead, they would have
a greater sense of purpose and belonging." DISCARDED LIVES - The children's activist was
born into a community with little hope for the future, beyond finding the
next drink or cigarette. Her mother and step-father lived in a makeshift
shack on the edge of the East London municipal waste dump. Bulelwa and her
two younger siblings, Nosiphiwe and Bulelani, spent their days scouring the dump for anything
that could be eaten or sold. Their mother kept them out of school for that
purpose. "We moved like that, back and
forth. There were people on the street living under plastic bags and in small
boxes like dog kennels. Other kids from the squatter camp joined us. We
became like a family unit and looked out for one another." "Life on the streets wasn't
really better than on the dump, but there was more chance of finding
food," she said. "At night
when the restaurants closed we would wait to grab the food they threw away. We
also begged for money and then we either bought food or benzine
or thinners to sniff. "It made me
see strange things, like snakes coming out of the sea, but I wasn't scared.
It sent me into a world of my own, and helped block out the past. It took
away my hunger and made me bolder."
Bulelwa and her siblings were headed down a
one-way road. Malnourished and substance addicted, they were bound to
contract disease and die young. A fellow street child, an older youth, had
been observing the little band, and intervened. Inside
South Africa's townships A group of 25 young people, mainly
boys, with maybe four teenage girls, is huddled against the long wall of a
cheap hotel on a downtown Durban side street. Old chairs and abandoned crates
comprise their makeshift furniture, ragged blankets and stained sleeping bags
their only warmth. A few sniff glue from plastic bottles. A sign hanging
above them reads: “Daily accommodation, open 24 hours.” “I did go home once,” explains Tabiso, who was 14 when his mother told him she couldn’t
afford to keep him. “But there was no place for me, so I came back, because
all my friends are here now.” Not quite all of them. Some have died, victims
of HIV/Aids or casual violence, but Tabiso is
putting his hope in the person leading our unusual summer holiday from the
UK. “Tom,” he says confidently, “is
going to teach me to surf, and that will be the job that will get me off the
streets.” Street children living near Albert
Park allege that two of the girls who have been living on the perimeter of
the park were raped by members of the Durban Metro Police - and one of them
is now missing. According to careworker Sipho Nyaka, whose NGO, World Back to God, helps look after
street children, he has seen police officers arresting street children and
found girls stripped naked and handcuffed on more than one occasion. The other one who said she was
also raped was still with the group of street children in the park on
Friday. However, a teenage boy who was
arrested a few weeks ago has allegedly been missing since his arrest. Durban policemen accused of abusing street kids www.sabcnews.com/south_africa/crime1justice/0,2172,164692,00.html At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
A It‘s
easier for street kids to beg than to go to school Maranatha homeless shelter director Trudi Basson finds that in most
interviews with street children they will lie about their schooling. “They will say they‘ve reached Grade 4, but
after educational tests you‘ll find that the child only reached Grade 2 or
has been out of school so long that those missed years are a big gap in their
schooling.” Basson
said smaller children were often used by bigger ones to earn an income by
begging on the streets. This was because the older ones usually could not
earn an income themselves. “They most
probably can‘t find work because they are illiterate as well,” Basson said. “You‘ll find that sometimes the little ones
are victimised and forced to stand on the street
and beg. Some younger children are also on drugs. “They don‘t see going to school as
a solution. After all, why must they go to school if they can get money on
the street right now? And, unfortunately, drugs are also available. Going to
school is not an instant solution to their problem. It doesn‘t solve poverty
at home.” “You often find children who don‘t have
school shoes do not want to go to school. They are too shy to go to school
barefoot.” Instead, some of these children grow up illiterate and are forced
to help support their families. Joburg lets its children speak NON-PHYSICAL NEEDS - The message that came out of
the summit was clear - giving shelter to these children was not enough. Many
of the children in shelters seemed to receive adequate physical care in the
form of shelter, clothing, food and schooling. But their emotional and
vocational needs were not being catered for satisfactorily. Two breakaway sessions took place:
in the first the children spoke freely about their experiences. All made
"similar comments about their situations, and identified [similar]
difficulties and shared aspirations for future improvements".
Difficulties included being subjected to further abuse by so-called
caregivers, constantly facing danger, being bored because of a lack of recreational
facilities and peer pressure to use drugs and alcohol and engage in
prostitution. It also emerged that they found
the term "street children" stigmatised
them; they, in turn, saw themselves only as "ordinary human
beings". Despite the difficulties they
experienced, the majority indicated that they preferred living in shelters to
their own homes. "Many children acknowledged that the shelters were
safer than their homes and that they were receiving an education," the
report noted. allafrica.com/stories/200712130555.html This article has been archived by
World Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] The city manager said these
children continue to resist all attempts to provide them with support,
despite the city's best efforts.
"Businesses and many residents continue to ask me to clear them
away and whilst we do provide as much social welfare support we can, they
keep coming back." Around the same time a group of
residents had been evicted onto the street.
"It was late in the day and one of the terrible storms was
pelting down on us. One person died and we were approached to provide tents
to shelter these truly poor people.
"We did so, even though as a very short term measure but the
surrounding residents did not see it that way and criticised
us." On Wednesday night, said Mr Sutcliffe, one of the city's stormwater
drains burst and over 50 shacks were washed away. "We urgently put up a tent in a park
and will provide sanitation on a temporary basis. "We will, through our housing and
other programmes, eventually ensure everyone has
access to sanitation and shelter, but we cannot do that overnight. We are
trying to be a caring city, but also recognise that
has unintended consequences." "I can also take judicial
notice of the fact that the deceased were street children. "I have personally dealt with cases in
this court where street children have committed crimes such as robbery and
murder," he said, referring to a specific case in which a family living in their car on the beachfront were
attacked by street children and the father was shot and killed. While that crime had been far more serious
than the theft of a bicycle, "it is an indication of what street
children can do", the judge said. American musician takes on the system www.news24.com/Regional_Papers/Components/Category_Article_Text_Template/0,,1806_2233293%7EE,00.html At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
"A lot of organisations
aimed at helping these kids simply come in and try and get them to conform
without first discovering what their needs are. But in order to really help
them you need to build a foundation first and not just go in and tell them
what to do. "People seem to either think
they are delinquents, or they pity them, thinking they must have come from an
abusive background. Yes, many of their previous circumstances may have been
tough, but what people don't realise is that the
street life is addictive. These kids have the freedom to move around as they
please. Many of them will choose to stay where they are, living by their own
rules." And that, Brown says, is the
greatest problem. "The structure in this country is flawed. Children
here are making decisions for themselves they are too young to make." Street children sentenced for stabbing jockey to death www.legalbrief.co.za/article.php?story=20071204131215371 All four, aged between 16 and 19,
pleaded guilty in the Port Elizabeth New Law Court to murdering Boutell for his cellphone,
wallet and a pair of shoes. Street rescue www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=648955 At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] The MEC for social development in www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=124&art_id=vn20071203044812632C154494 Prostitutes and street children
wishing to change their lives for the better need only approach the social
development department, MEC Meshack Radebe said last week.
Addressing a function in Pietermaritzburg on
Friday, Radebe said there were many opportunities
for the children and prostitutes to improve their lives. Recently, the Provincial social development
department received a R24-million windfall from its national counterpart. Alleged
child trafficker walks free Lured by promises of work and a
new life in the big city, children as young as 13 are being brought to Cape
Town from rural towns to work on fruit and flower stalls. When they are not working, these children
are prisoners in a Wendy house in the back garden of their employer. They are
fed, but rarely paid. Many run away
and, alone in a strange city, take to the streets to join Cape Town's brigade
of street children. - htsc Where
are Durban's street children? www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=180&art_id=vn20071122091820152C486964 Durban's usually bustling street
child colonies have all but disappeared from the city after what is believed
to be a major police crackdown ahead of this week's Fifa
preliminary draw. City officials
remain at odds over the fate of dozens of children, who are believed to have
been rounded up by SAPS and Metro Police units before being taken to
Westville Prison. Social workers say
this happened after the children and some adults with small children were
charged for loitering and given fines they cannot afford. Some may spend up
to 90 days behind bars. Kids ‘primed for sex jobs’ www.news24.com/Regional_Papers/Components/Category_Article_Text_Template/0,2430,433-441-442_2213145%7EE,00.html At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
Compounding the problem for street
children is that the general public is mostly apathetic and unmoved by their
plight. The children themselves are so
hardened by life on the streets that they can be impossible to work with,
even for those trained in the field.
An independent researcher has commented in her reports that their “dislikeableness” contributes to offenders feeling
justified in their abuse of the children, who are often seen as seen as
dangerous criminals rather than victims. 'Angel
of Soweto' case thrown out VICTORY DANCE - Known to her pupils as
"Mama Jackey", the Ithuteng
Trust school principal had been celebrated for providing shelter and an
education to thousands of traumatised and destitute
children. Their harrowing tales drew
donations of millions of dollars from luminaries such as Mr
Mandela and US TV chat show host Oprah Winfrey. But a South African TV documentary, Carte
Blanche, a year ago revealed claims that Ms Maarohanye
pressured pupils into reciting fabricated tales of murdered parents, rape and
destitution. The programme
also alleged that some donations had "gone astray" while children
at the school were going hungry.
Subsequently newspaper reporters said they found it difficult to get
pupils and staff at the school in Klipspruit - in
Soweto township near Johannesburg - to speak about the allegations, because
they said they were terrified of "Mama". Help TUT
students to help street children We are a group of students from
the public relations, business communication and international communications
department. Itumeleng Shelter is a shelter that
only takes care of boys. It can currently only take care of 18 boys ranging
from 0-18 years of age. The main
purpose of the shelter is to rehabilitate the boys and place them back with
their families. The shelter also provides services to male drop-ins, who do
not live at the shelter but are being helped with food, clean clothes and
therapy. The shelter is a two-bedroomed house, with nine boys sharing a room. They are
in need of food, clothes, computers, renovations of
building, school uniforms, bedding and blankets. City's
heart is hardening, say homeless www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&art_id=vn20070715085950204C398870&click_id=13&test=1 In the same week that thousands of
blankets were distributed to shelters and charity organisations
as part of GoodHopeFM's blanket drive, a homeless
man claims his wife died of exposure after police took her blanket. Using energy of street at Grahamstown www.tonight.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3918604&fSectionId=377&fSetId=251 One such initiative is the Art of
the Street Project (ASP), which trains and cultivates drama talent using
street children from the Eluxolweni Shelter in Grahamstown. Since
2003, it has provided an outlet of positive self- expression for these
youth. Run by UBOM!, an Eastern Cape
drama company, every year it stages a street theatre production for the
festival, based on members' life stories and experiences. Streetwise kids foil jailbreak www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2133794,00.html At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
The man was very casual and after
following him for a short distance Hofmeyr stopped
next to him and told the boys to grab him.
"He resisted, but these are street children: they softened him up
a bit." The boys climbed back in
with their new passenger and returned him to the prison. The boys, who range in age from 12
to 18, said they were a bit apprehensive of the escapee. Apparently he did not say much. Aletta Dreyer of
the Crossroad Shelter said the children were all there because they wanted to
achieve something in life. Muizenberg drug problems running high www.news24.com/Regional_Papers/Components/Category_Article_Text_Template/0,2430,1806_2133523%7EE,00.html At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
Gang bosses have also been making
optimum use of street children, who police cannot fully prosecute. "These children are acting as
'high-risk' drug runners between False Bay College students and Village
drug-dealers - a problem police can do very little about," Allan Dillon
says. As Director Hagen admits, children
caught for crimes can only be held for a maximum of 24-hours by police, after
which they are absorbed back into the Social Welfare system. "They are
mostly released back into their parents' custody - who
cannot control them - as there just aren't enough places of safety to hold
them. We find ourselves continuously re-arresting the same children." Muizenberg might soon see a "drop-in
centre" for street children established in conjunction with The
Homestead Shelter in Cape Town, says MID board member Joanne Hichens. "The
primary purpose of the centre will be to get children into some sort of
stable residential care, but failing this, the centre should at least be a
means of keeping track of the children's movements and behaviour.
This information will be shared with the relevant authorities," Hichens says. Painful rejection as street kids try to make their way
back This article has been archived by
World Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] Former street children trying to
turn their lives around are finding it difficult to enter schools because they
are either far behind in their grades or have never even been to school. Maranatha Streetworkers Trust director Trudi
Basson said children who had lived on the street
were often rejected because they were far behind or too old to start. She said the trust had developed a gap-year
programme for the children to follow before going
to mainstream schools as otherwise they tended not to cope. The programme included home schooling with the help of
volunteers. Children as old as 13 had
never been to school and sometimes they did not even have birth certificates,
so the trust volunteers had to estimate their ages, said Basson. Wave
of homeless youths overwhelming Joburg www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=14&art_id=vn20070617091828504C331547 A good night's sleep
is also hard to come by. Three
different groups of street children - one from Hillbrow,
the second from the Joubert Park area, and another
group of girls from End Street - said that Metro police habitually set their
blankets on fire, apparently as a means of forcing them off the streets and
into shelters. "Sometimes the
policemen laugh; they think it's a big joke," said one boy. Social workers, outreach workers and staff
at the shelters do not doubt such stories.
Mildred Mhlanga, of Johannesburg Child
Welfare's Thembalethu Project, said that a number
of girls from the project had watched as Metro police lifted their blankets
from the rubbish bins where they were stored and set them alight. Homeless bear the brunt of the big chill www.mg.co.za/article/2007-05-23-homeless-bear-the-brunt-of-big-chill www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/&articleid=309295 In Braamfontein,
The centre in Simmonds Street has handed out about 1 500 blankets,
and expects to give out about 5 000 in total. For meals, it caters to
about 400 people in the morning and another 600 in the afternoon, primarily
serving soup and bread, but also curries and rice, depending on the donations
it receives. Twilight Children - Programme and Activities SHELTER PROGRAMME - The Twilight Children Shelter programme is a voluntary residential facility for
children who no longer wish to reside on the street. During their stay in the shelter, Twilight
Children assumes the role of 'parents' to these children and provides for
their physical and emotional needs.They help
extensively with reunification of Children with their parents in
circumstances of poverty. We house these children at Twilight during the
week to allow them to go to schools and at weekends and holidays we
give them transport money and food parcels to take home so they can spend
time with their parents. Children are looked after by
child care workers on a 24 hour basis. Their role is to provide whatever it
takes to ensure the successful rehabilitation and reinteration
of these marginalised youngsters back into
mainstream society. The children
attend formal schools both in Soweto and Johannesburg, and social religious
and cultural activities are arranged to provide them opportunities for
personal growth. Port.
priest brings hope to homeless children archives.tcm.ie/laoisnationalist/2007/05/17/story26052.asp www.laois-nationalist.ie/news/story/?trs=cwgbauojcw There are hundreds of children,
both boys and girls, who live on the streets. For most street children a
cardboard box and newspaper are their only source of shelter. Fr. Michael's
support, guidance and training programmes are often
their only opportunity to get off the streets. The Learn to Live Project provides
one of the few educational and skills training programmes
in Capetown that is aimed specifically at street
children. "We aim to improve their self-image, reduce aggressiveness and
bring structure into their lives, to make them employable. The ultimate goal
is to re-integrate street youth into mainstream society," says Fr.
Michael. The Sixteen Plus Programme is an outreach programme
designed around the needs of youths over 16 years, the majority of whom have
lived on the streets for many years. Huge
rise in number of children living on Mandela Bay streets The growing number of street
children in Port Elizabeth has come under the spotlight as residents accuse them
of housebreaking, theft and petty crimes in different residential areas. He said the children were
committing crimes like housebreaking, snatching handbags, breaking into motor
vehicles, pick-pocketing and stealing beach-goers‘ belongings. “I don‘t know exactly how many kids there
are but they live under the Humewood bridge, and
the groups are getting bigger and bigger,” Koll
said. “They have to fend for
themselves so they become involved in criminal activities. Children as young
as 11 already have criminal cases against them.” Where being poor
could become a criminal offence Cape Town's recent by-law, the
'City Streets, Public Places and Public Nuisance Act', not only adds to the
vulnerability of the homeless, especially street children, by dispersing them
to outlying locations around the city where there are no support mechanicisms, but may also lead to the criminalisation of poverty and homelessness in South
Africa. Social issues on agenda for Inner City Summit SPECIAL GROUPS - Certain groups need recognition
and research to provide an understanding of their size and needs. Street children – there doesn't
appear to be a coherent strategy for dealing with street children. There is
also a growing problem of homeless children who are HIV/Aids orphans -
including foreign HIV/Aids orphans. Access to funding and how to "legalise" the foreign children needs to be
discussed. 40 000 child prostitutes - Street children vulnerable to
sex trade www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=283&fArticleId=2198903 STATISTICS - The gangs, he said, gave the boys
food and money in return for sexual favours. The source, who did not want to be named
for fear of intimidation, said: "They buy them food,
they offer protection in exchange for sexual favours." He said he believed that half of the boys
on the streets had been sexually molested, sodomised
and raped. "It is a very
secretive thing, not talked about," he said. Project
raises R150 000 for homeless kids Each of the three beneficiaries
received a R50 000 contribution from the project. Learn
to Live, which provides education for abandoned children, will spend the
money on educational workshops and life skills training in the months to
come. The Homestead, with its mission to help homeless boys reconstruct
their lives, will invest in its family re-integration programme
while Ons Plek, a
shelter that takes in homeless girls, aims to improve its community
re-integration programme. Children of a
Lesser God: Durban’s legacy of poverty Recently we met Thabo, a little boy of 12. He has been on the street for
just two weeks. Both his parents died and his granny couldn’t afford to take
care of him and his two sisters so she sent them out of the house. He doesn’t
know where his two sisters are. They got separated on the streets. He looks
like a fish out of water on that sunny yet grotty
part of the Durban beachfront. He should be playing on the beach, frolicking
in the water. Instead he sits outside a supermarket not knowing how to go
about asking these grown-up strangers for food or money. His heart hasn’t
hardened enough to allow him to make that decision to steal as yet. Nor has
he been integrated into any of the other packs of street children where he
would be taught the skills of surviving on the street. Instead, Thabo’s broken heart and hungry stomach forces him to
stick his little, innocent hands into a garbage bin and scrummage
inside it with the hope that some grown-up stranger has thrown away his or
her lunch. One day I will help children like me findarticles.com/p/news-articles/scotsman-edinburgh-scotland-the/mi_7951/is_2007_Jan_1/children/ai_n34571748/ One Sunday morning in 1958,
12-year-old Judy Westwater packed a small case with
her school books and uniform, a bar of soap and a comb and a few pieces of
stolen fruit. Abandoned by her violent and abusive father in a residential
hotel room in Johannesburg, and with no money to pay the rent owed to the
landlord, she headed for the only place she could think of: the street.
Finding a tiny shed nestled in the wall of an alleyway, she squeezed herself
in there with her few belongings. It was to be her home for the next nine
months. Children
attacked sex charge vicar An Oxfordshire
clergyman accused of child abuse needed a police escort from court after
being attacked by South African street kids.
Father Tony Hogg, 52, appeared before a magistrate in Cape Town, South
Africa, on Wednesday accused of indecently assaulting a 10-year-old street
child in April. R1m children‘s home officially launched at Blanco, George A new R1-million initiative aimed
at keeping destitute children and their parents off the street was launched
by George executive mayor Bazil Petrus
at an official sod turning in Blanco, George, yesterday. The main aim of these meetings was
finding ways of helping the growing population of street children who have
become a problem in the town. R2
million boost for smile-a-child project Cape Town’s Smile-a-Child project
has received with a 2 million rand boost from the authorities. The project designed to take homeless
children off the streets, has been struggling to deal with the growing influx
of street children. Officials estimate that for every
child taken off the street, two more join the ranks of street children. In Cape Town an estimated 40 percent of
people living in the street are children, No
bail for children suspected of murder www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=qw1160141041419B263 The Herald Online reported that
the incident raised concerns about increasing violence displayed by street
children in the area. A police
officer, Gerald Kota, involved in the rehabilitation of street children told
The Herald that street children are becoming entangled with "drug
lords" who use them to break into homes and even encourage them to kill. Bills
to protect kids linger in legal limbo They haunt city alleys and
pavements, hands outstretched, eyes pleading, as they beg for a few cents and
a bite to eat. They are a sign of a
society in crisis, but are seen as a social nuisance. They are children – but
whose responsibility are they? Many
people see street kids as a nuisance. They are regarded as vandals, petty
criminals and future prostitutes, and the police are expected to take them
off the streets. From
street child to drumming master www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=139&art_id=vn20060919122523264C731131 Two years ago Ncedo
Ngomba, 14, was homeless on the streets of Today Ncedo
not only has a roof over his head, but he has turned his life around and is
involved in a number of projects. From education to sport and music, these
projects have helped him develop. But there is one project that is especially
close to Ncedo's heart: the Steelband
Project Western Cape, which teaches music to youngsters from poor
communities. Street
kids get their kicks from soccer www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=139&art_id=vn20060910094031721C845954 Sport plays an important role in
the rehabilitation of street children and in the transformation of youth from
disadvantaged communities. Cape Town's
deputy mayor, Andrew Arnold, told the Street Children's Soccer Tournament in
Green Point on Saturday that sport could keep children away from drugs, gangs
and other social evils. About 32 teams
of street children took part in the event which was jointly organised by the city, the Cape Town Partnership and the
fledgling Western Cape Street Children's Soccer League. Street Kid: One child's desperate fight for survival - Judy Westwater www.tonight.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3409249&fSectionId=375&fSetId=251 I am wary of trivialising
her story by reducing it to a list of horrors, but here's a short version as
contained in the publicity blurb: "Abducted by her psychotic spiritualist
father as a child and kept like a dog in his backyard, Judy Westwater suffered in a Manchester orphanage run by nuns
before being taken to South Africa, where she ended up living wild on the
streets of Hillbrow and joining the circus. Determined that her childhood
experiences should in some way give meaning to her life, Judy has in
adulthood worked tirelessly to help homeless children in South Africa - in
the very places she herself suffered." The book ends when Westwater, aged 17, returned to the UK from South Africa,
to seek her mother and sisters. The reunion was anything but loving. It is
then noted that Westwater inherited a small legacy
and she used this to start projects with street children in South Africa,
Mexico and elsewhere. Cops
warn of new smash 'n grab tactics www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=181&art_id=vn20060812112109200C439755 "We have had many cases where
criminals have stuck chewing gum on car doors to alert their accomplices.
However, in most cases, street children are being used because motorists
don't really suspect them. While these kids are begging from motorists, they
look into cars and check for valuables. Poverty,
drugs driving kids to sell sex on street “There are a large number of
street children in the area who are turning to this as a way to fend for themselves,”
he said. “What is needed, is early intervention that
will take the children off the streets before they get drawn into that
lifestyle.” Ebenezer Church pastor Neville
Goldman said the church was aware of the problem and was very concerned about
children who had run away from home and turned to crime and prostitution to
survive “There is definitely a problem in
the northern areas of children who go missing, and of parents who cannot
account for the whereabouts of their children. www.tonight.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3379467&fSectionId=434&fSetId=251 The horrifying fact is that on the
streets of our cities, homeless boys are regularly sexually abused by a
growing number of paedophiles. The street kids call
these men "bunnies" - a term describing the mostly middle-aged
white men who pay them to have sex. According to activists, street
children are collected at night at designated pick-up spots, yet the public
remains largely unaware of what is taking place. Many NGOs established to provide
care and shelter for the city's street children turn a blind eye and,
according to some, the police say they have "bigger fish to fry"
than sexual predators preying on boys living on the margins of society. Street children are hit hard by the big freeze www.citizen.co.za/index/article.aspx?pDesc=21200,1,22 This article has been archived by
World Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] As the freezing temperatures and
heavy rains continue to wreak havoc in some parts of the country, homeless
people and street children have been hit the hardest. Street
Samaritan attacked by those he helps A Durban ward councillor
and founder of a street children advocacy group was viciously attacked by the
very people he's been helping for the past few years. Khoza … was … cornered by a group of
about 10 boys aged from about 12 to 20 … They stoned me and stabbed me. It
was terrible as I have worked closely with young people and it felt so sad to
be beaten by them. Street
children as young as 8 being lured into prostitution by tourists Street children, some as young as
eight years, are increasingly being lured into prostitution by local and
foreign tourists in the Knysna area. Police say they are aware of the
problem but poverty and a culture of silence are obstacles in their attempts
to prevent child prostitution. Knysna Child Welfare has conducted
several workshops on child trafficking in the Garden Route and reports that a
trend has emerged that street children are being used for prostitution, drug
smuggling and other crimes. Chairman Trix
Marais said there was a “vicious cycle of silence.
Their parents and the community know about it but they keep quiet.” No short cuts for street actors www.tonight.co.za/?fArticleId=3321809&fSectionId=443&fSetId=204 The children won't all necessarily
end up being actors (though they all acquitted themselves rather well) but
the Project isn't just about teaching the children to use the stage. It's about learning to navigate life, a
skill they haven't necessarily picked up on the street. Four years ago Rhodes University lecturer
Alex Sutherland decided to do something about the street children she saw
using performance to get attention as victims. Drive
to help street kids beat winter blues Children from shelters in Khayelitsha and I CAN is a campaign to collect
blankets and clothes for shelters for the homeless in Cape Town. Durban cleans up its act ahead of 2010 showdown www.sabcnews.com/south_africa/social/0,2172,128003,00.html At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
Street
kid burns to death in basement The child usually slept on the
pavements and might have sought refuge in the basement, said Naidoo. "The
basement was very dark and a candle had to be used for light, and when it
caught fire the child could not escape," said Naidoo. Children not kept safe This article has been archived by
World Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] Not only is the social system
failing “The street children are the
future of this country but as long as the community gives them money, food or
clothes, they will stay on the streets and develop into habitual criminals
when they grow up,” Information About Street Children - www.streetchildren.org.uk/reports/South%20Africa%20Child.doc At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
The situation of street children
needs to be seen in the context of the legacy of entrenched poverty, racial
discrimination and high levels of societal tolerance for violence. There are
an estimated 250,000 street children with a rapid increase in numbers due to
increasing levels of adult unemployment, the drift from rural to urban areas,
the rapid growth of cities and the mushrooming peri-urban informal
settlements and the breakdown of African family support systems. “I only did two years at school.
After my grandmother died, my brothers and sister, who were unemployed, could
no longer support me. I had to fend for myself in the city, and that's when
the streets of Durban's
Street Children Are 'Out Of Sight' A Thin Hope of
Escaping Poverty Most street children in Child Sex Industry
Booms In South Africa Unlike their parents, these
children are not prepared to be part of the meek majority of have-nots, are
not prepared to be the born losers anymore.
Poverty, alcoholism, broken families and brutality drive them to the
streets of cities like Organisations that help children There are many organisations
that look after the needs of a range of children: street children, abandoned
babies, Aids orphans, HIV positive children, and others. Some operate
overnight shelters while others offer residential care from birth to the age
of 18. Some operate drop-in centres. Most engage in
outreach programmes. Some are Christian-based organisations, while others are non-sectarian. Some, like
Cotlands, Streetwise and the Orlando Children's
Home, are well-known; others are less so.
Described here are several such organisations.
All employ some permanent staff but also make use of volunteers. Othandweni - Hope For Street Children www2.rnw.nl/rnw/en/features/development/030204othandweni.html At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
In the notorious district of
Hillbrow in South Africa Will Have Over 3 Million Aids Orphans By 2010 [Left menu: UPLIFTMENT] NEW HEARTS FOR AFRICA - Following her retirement
several years ago, Beverley Peterson decided to devote her life and her small
$5,000 pension to help the children living on the streets of Christopher Gumbi And His Wife Provide Home And Center To Street Children Of Soweto Christopher Gumbi
and his wife provide home of sorts to 12 "street" children and
provide a center for up to 250 other children from around Diepkloof who visit
the house daily for a meal or for extra-mural activities. Helping
The Street Children Of South Africa: Profile Of Ashoka Fellow David Fortune David Fortune, a priest,
child-care worker, and part-time actor, is reintegrating children and youth
living on the streets of A street-based outreach team that
develops relationships with street children, specifically targeting those new
to the streets. This work grew out of an earlier initiative, the Durban
Street Team. Rokpa
Projects in South Africa Every year thousands of migrants
arrive in Johannesburg, not just from rural areas but also as refugees from
other African countries. They join the high number of homeless and destitute
people already struggling to survive on the streets. Many have HIV/AIDS. Findings from
interviews on the background of street children in Pretoria, The majority leave as a result of
socioeconomic and other factors within the family or immediate environment.
These family factors may include: abuse of alcohol and drugs; financial problems
and poverty; family violence and family breakup; poor family relationships;
parental unemployment and resulting stress; physical and/or sexual abuse of
children; parents absent from home as a result of personal or financial
reasons (e.g., a migrant labor system); collapse of family structure;
collapse of extended family; and emergence of vulnerable nuclear families in
urban areas (Le Roux, 1993). 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 [South Africa] [other countries]Street Children in [South Africa Child Prostitution in [South Africa] [other countries]