Prevalence,
Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children In the first decade of the 21st Century gvnet.com/streetchildren/Turkey.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 *** Children who work
in the street in Izmir, Turkey Hatice Bal Yilmaz and Şeyda Dülgerler, Ege University, Izmir Turkey -- SOCIAL BEHAVIOR AND PERSONALITY,
February 2011, 39(1), 129-144 © Society for Personality Research (Inc.)
DOI0.2224/sbp.2011.39.1.129 www.sbp-journal.com/index.php/sbp/article/view/2099 [accessed 28 October
2017] Using Izmir, Turkey
as a case study the risk factors leading children to work in the streets were
identified. Participants in the study were 226 children working in the
streets, average age 10.35±2.21 who worked 6.8±2.11 hours per day. The great
majority of the children were boys (90.2%), 77.9% were of primary school age;
two-thirds of the children were working to provide an economic contribution
to the family; 86.6% were from a large family; 78.8% were from a family that
migrated to a big city. Almost all did not find working in the street safe;
and nearly half were not hopeful about the future. It was established that
frequent problems in the children’s families include poverty, unemployment,
poor education, having a large family, poor family functioning, migration,
limited possibilities of shelter, and domestic violence, including the
beating of wives and children. Although nearly all the children still lived
with their families, a small percentage of the children (5.8%) had begun
living permanently on the streets and then cut ties with their families. A
significant relationship was found between living on the streets and the age
of the child, the father’s education, and the father’s use of alcohol. Solve the Problem
of Street Children Emel Kilic,
Bıa news centre, İstanbul, 16 January
2008 www.bianet.org/english/local-goverment/104195-solve-the-problem-of-street-children [accessed 1 August
2011] NIGHT SHELTERS AND
REHABILITATION NEEDED
- "Children and young people living on the streets need somewhere to
stay at night, and this needs to be provided by the municipalities. In
Istanbul, at least 10 night shelters need to be founded. Istanbul’s 32 district
municipalities need to come together and collaborate on a common project.
They have not done anything on this issue yet, but the problem could be
solved within a year if there were a project under the coordination of the
Greater Istanbul Municipality." ***
ARCHIVES *** The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/turkey.htm [accessed 1 January
2011] INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - A rapid assessment on working street children in 2001
found that street children in the cities of Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61680.htm [accessed 11
February 2020] CHILDREN
-
Government-provided education through age 14 or the eighth grade is free,
universal, and compulsory. The maximum age to which public schooling was
provided was 18. Traditional family values in rural areas placed a greater
emphasis on education for sons than for daughters. According to the
government, 95.4 percent of girls and 99.2 percent of boys in the country
attended primary school; however, the UN reported during the year that in the
eastern and southeastern regions of the country more than 50 percent of girls
between 6 and 14 did not attend school. SECTION
6 WORKER RIGHTS
– [c] Some parents forced their children to work on the streets and to beg. SECTION
6 WORKER RIGHTS
– [d] There were no reliable statistics for the number of children working on
the streets nationwide. The
government operated 28 centers to assist such children. Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, 8 June 2001 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/turkey2001.html [accessed 9 March
2011] [61] The Committee
takes note of the number of protocols the State party has signed with ILO, in
particular that for the promotion of education of working children. However,
it expresses its concern that there is not a clear legal minimum age for
working children and notes, in this regard, the commission established under
the Working Children Department of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security
to prepare a draft "Law about the minimum age for work and protective
measures for working children", which will cover all children who work.
It nevertheless remains worried about the large number of children engaged in
labor activities, in particular children working in the fields, domestic
workers, children working in small enterprises and children working in the
streets, who appear to be less protected by legislation. [63] While noting
that a number of centers have been established, with the collaboration of
non-governmental organizations, to provide counseling, training and
rehabilitation services for children living in the streets, the Committee
nevertheless expresses its concern at the significant number of such children
and notes that assistance is generally only provided to them by non-governmental
organizations. Street children
take part in protest to protect Hasankeyf Today's Zaman with
wires, İstanbul, 26 May 2009 www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?load=detay&link=176338&bolum=100 [accessed 1 August
2011] Street children,
who are working with the Batman Youth Social Life and Culture Association
(AGES), have taken part in a demonstration to protect the ancient city of The children, who
are working as shoeshiners, scale attendants and tissue sellers, took a break
from their jobs for one day to take part in the protest. They chanted slogans
against the building of the Ilısu Dam, which is threatening
Hasankeyf. The ancient city will be submerged under water if the dam is
completed. They also carried posters which said “Street Children for
Hasankeyf" and “Keep your dirty hands and your greedy desires away from
Hasankeyf.” The children said that if Hasankeyf is submerged under water,
there will be no tourists visiting Batman. İstanbul home
to 30,000 street children, research shows Habib Güler, Today's
Zaman, www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?load=detay&link=159433&bolum=101 [accessed 1 August
2011] Of Of the street
children, 20 were identified in Ankara, and Turkey's third-largest city,
İzmir, had none. Kocaeli province was reported to have 687 street
children while Eskişehir has 47. The research also revealed that 41,000
children are forced to beg on the streets, more than half of whom are found
in İstanbul. Other cities with high figures include Ankara (6,700),
Diyarbakır (3,300), Mersin (637) and Van (640). Rise in sexual
abuse of minors in Ercan Yavuz, Today’s
Zaman, www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?load=detay&link=144149 [accessed 1 January
2011] Drawing on
statistics she gathered working with experts and civil society groups,
Arıtman says 4 percent of all children in Turkey are subject to sexual
abuse, with 70 percent of the victims being younger than 10. “Contrary to
popular belief, boys are subject to sexual abuse as frequently as girls. In
reported cases of children subject to commercial sexual exploitation, 77
percent of the children came from broken homes. Twenty-three percent lived
with their parents, but in those homes domestic violence was common. The
biggest risk faced by children who run away and live on the street is sexual
exploitation. Children kidnapped from southeastern provinces are forced into
prostitution here. Today, it is impossible to say for certain how many
children in Turkey are being subjected to commercial sexual exploitation, but
many say official information is off by at least 85 percent. An estimated 88,313
children in Street kids turned
hockey champs to compete in Slovenia Serkan Canbaz,
Today's Zaman, www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?load=detay&link=140171 [accessed 2 August
2011] The Parties promise to
protect children but forget their rights Today's Zaman, 09
July 2007 www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?load=detay&link=116092&bolum=8 [accessed 2 August
2011] WHAT IS THE PARTIES'
APPROACH REGARDING THE PROBLEMS OF STREET CHILDREN? - They just
mention that they will rescue street children, but how they will do it is not
detailed. None of the parties has a detailed project regarding street
children, even though it is a huge problem. The Nationalist Movement Party
(MHP) promises to put and end to the street gangs that "breed"
street children, but does not mention what is going to happen to those
children afterwards. These gangs, no matter how bad they are for society,
provide the only home-like environment street children ever have. The children
need rehabilitation programs, homes and education to rejoin society, and the
party does not mention such projects at all. Children From
Street Do Organic Farming Turkish Press, www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=169326 [accessed 2 August
2011] Street children in
southern city of Bayildiran said 150
children have already received certificates from courses on automotive,
floriculture and food sectors, and approximately one third of them are
already employed. Street Children
catch purse snatchers Star, March 21, 2007 streetchildrennews.wordpress.com/2007/03/21/street-children-catch-purse-snatchers/ [accessed 9 January
2017] STREET CHILDREN
CATCH PURSE SNATCHERS
– A young girl, Meltem Dal, attacked by a purse snatcher in Beyoğlu
yesterday, was rescued by the street children who live at the Kids of Hope
(Umut Çocukları) Association, the Star daily reported yesterday. Dal
realized her purse was opened and caught the 15-year-old snatcher girl from
her arm. However, when the snatcher's mother appeared suddenly, she started to
harass Dal, the daily wrote yesterday. The street children from the
association came to rescue Dal as soon as they heard her screaming. Two street children held the snatcher
mother and daughter until police arrived. The kids calmed Dal down. No one
but these street children helped her and she owes her life to these kids,
said Star. A ‘practice of
solidarity’ reaching out to working children in Çankırı Emine Kart , Today's
Zaman, www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?load=detay&link=106169&bolum=101 [accessed 2 August
2011] SOLIDARITY AT THE
COMMUNITY LEVEL
- According to the data and information studied by the Ministry of Labor and
Social Security in corporation with workers' and employers' organizations and
NGOs, the three worst forms of child labor in Turkey have been identified:
seasonal agricultural work, work in small and medium sized enterprises under
hazardous conditions and working on the streets. At present 159
children in Çankırı have been identified as being at risk; all of
them are now receiving help from the project. In Governor Öner's words, those
children "are happier than they were in the past and the possibility of
encountering similar situations has been reduced to minimum level." Children get a
future through recycling Turkish Daily News,
01August 2007 www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=children-get-a-future-through-recycling-2007-01-07 [accessed 11
Aug 2013] Thanks to income
from the Solid Waste Recycling Project, some 350 street children in Street children
saved via sports The New Anatolian, streetchildrennews.wordpress.com/2006/10/31/street-children-saved-via-sports/ [accessed 9 January
2017] Kocaeli’s Gebze
district police has rehabilitated some 90 street children so far with a
project aiming to adapt them to society through sports. Turfanda also said
that they saw significant changes in children who took part in the project,
since their self-confidence improved. He also called on
the Gebze townspeople, public institutions and non-governmental organizations
to contribute to their efforts to adapt street children to the society. To Turkish Daily News www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=52983 [Last access date
unavailable] www.hurriyetdailynews.com/to-bogazici-university-from-street-vending.aspx?pageID=438&n=to-bogazici-university-from-street-vending-2006-09-03 [accessed 9 January
2017] Eight young people
working as street vendors have become a source of inspiration for children in
similar situations with impressive scores in the national university
entrance examinations. Aksu said the
children, who at times had to continue street peddling, with their
perseverance and zeal to succeed, were living proof that being a "street
child" was not an inescapable fate, stating that even in the period when
they had to work on the street, none of them had gotten involved in crime or
gone in the wrong direction. Sixty percent of
juvenile delinquents don’t attend school Turkish Daily News www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=51496 [Last access date
unavailable] www.hurriyetdailynews.com/sixty-percent-of-juvenile-delinquents-dont-attend-school.aspx?pageID=438&n=sixty-percent-of-juvenile-delinquents-don8217t-attend-school-2006-08-15 [accessed 9 January
2017] Erkan noted that
street children could be seen everywhere that internal migration, poverty and
unemployment are found. He said street children were those who could not cope
with the abuse and violence at home. They run away and are forced into
criminal acts by others while living on the streets. He added that the
characteristics all street children shared were the lack of any childhood,
family affection and a proper diet. Turkish Daily News, At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 2 August
2011] The system While there are
efforts in many provinces around the country to rehabilitate and educate
these children, the work that goes into it also provides an inspiration for
others. Community OT based
practice with street children - Off the Street and Back to School [PDF] European Network of
Occupational Therapy in Higher Education ENOTHE Student Group, 12th Annual
Meeting, www.udc.es/grupos/cndeuto/doc_report_enothe/Project%20outline.pdf [accessed 2 August
2011] [page 49-50] RATIONALE
(BACKGROUND, OCCUPATIONAL NEEDS, PROBLEM DESCRIPTION) - Street children,
as young as 6 years old, are the most visible part of the population of In Making a Difference
for Children: Street Children United Nations
Children's Fund UNICEF www.unicef.org/turkey/dn/cp8.html [accessed 2 August
2011] THE SITUATION - Numbers of children
living and/or working on the streets of Turkish cities have visibly increased
in recent years. Many children who
live at home are forced by their parents to work on the streets in order to
supplement household income. Some who come from
abusive families seek refuge on the streets. Unable to apply
themselves to study or even to attend school, many of these children have
dropped out of the educational system and grow up with little hope of gaining
appropriate training or certification for a skilled job. While on the
streets, many of these children are subject to maltreatment, physical and/or
sexual abuse, disease, malnutrition and substance abuse. Mahmut Oral Say Yes – [the Quarterly Newsletter of UNICEF www.unicef.org/turkey/sy14/cp21.html [accessed 2 August
2011] Taking the case of Diyarbakır as an example, we see that although the
numbers of children living on the street could be counted in the hundreds as
recently as 1995, these children now make up a group of as many as 20,000 in
this city today. Yusuf Kulca Say Yes – [the Quarterly Newsletter of UNICEF www.unicef.org/turkey/sy14/cp19.html [accessed 2 August
2011] It is not
surprising that numbers of street children in Protecting
Street Children in World Bank, November
2003 go.worldbank.org/6X944G6450 [accessed 2 August
2011] Eleven-year-old
Mustafa regularly comes to the Laundry to get clean clothes, a hot meal, and
spend the night. Mustafa is a runaway
who, like hundreds of other street children in World Bank -
Country Specific Small Grants Program Evaluation Committee Meeting World Bank, APRIL
25, 2005 go.worldbank.org/6PQQVE3PP2 [accessed 2 August
2011] Project No: #20 - to organize public
information campaign and provide training related to the drug addicted
children of the Project No: #24 - bringing together
about 40 street children under a group that revolves around folkloric dances.
Teaching them to dance and perform on stage will enable them to breathe a
different atmosphere. The trainers who teach them how to dance, act and
behave will have pedagogic skills. Support for income
generation activities for families of child labourers through the ILO's Start
Your Business (SYB) programme with a view to gradually eliminate child labour International Labour
Organisation ILO - IPEC At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 2 August
2011] Development
Objective: to contribute to the elimination of working street children
through strengthening the local initiatives to improve the lives of children
and their parents. Rehabilitation and
prevention of working children in Gölcük and Adapazari, Marmara Earthquake
Region International Labour
Organisation ILO - IPEC At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 2 August
2011] Immediate
Objective: to withdraw 1000 working children and children at high risk of
becoming child laborers from work and provide them with rehabilitative,
educational, health, nutrition, psycho-social and crisis counseling services
while assisting their families through the provision of social support, A
Film Puts Faces On Ilene R. Prusher,
The Christian Science Monitor, www.csmonitor.com/2003/0220/p01s04-woeu.html [accessed 2 August
2011] 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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