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Street children or street urchins are homeless children who live on the street – in particular, those that are not taken care of by parents or other adults. Street children live in abandoned buildings, containers, automobiles, parks, or on the street itself.

A great deal has been written defining street children. The problem is that there are no precise categories but rather a continuum ranging from children who spend some time in the streets but basically live at home to those who live entirely in the streets and have no adult supervision or care.

A widely accepted set of definitions, commonly attributed to UNICEF, defines street children into two main categories:

1. Children on the street are those engaged in some kind of economic activity ranging from begging to vending. Most go home at the end of the day and contribute their earnings to their family. They may be attending school and retain a sense of belonging to a family. Because of the economic fragility of the family, these children may eventually opt for a permanent life on the streets.

2. Children of the street actually live on the street (or outside of a normal family environment). Family ties may exist but are tenuous and are maintained only casually or occasionally.^[1]

Estimates vary but one often-cited figure is that the number of children living independently in the streets totals between 100 million and 150 million worldwide, and it is forecasted that - by 2020 – the number will increase to 800 million.^[2]

Street children exist in many major cities, especially in developing countries, and may be the subject of abuse, neglect, exploitation, or even in extreme cases murder by "clean up squads" hired by local businesses.^[3]

In Latin America, a common cause is abandonment by poor families unable to feed all their children. In Africa, an increasingly common cause is AIDS.

Contents 1 Street Children in Russia 2 Street children in India 3 Street Children in Bucharest, Romania 4 Street children in Brazil 4.1 Underlying causes 4.2 Death squads 4.3 Drug gangs 5 References 6 See also 7 External links 8 References

In Russia, street children usually find a home in underground pipe and cable collectors during the harsh winter. These underground homes offer space, shelter and most importantly of all, heat from hot water and central heating pipes.

Russia has up to 4 million street children,^[4] and one crime in four involves underage youths. Officially, the number of children without supervision is more than 700 000. However, experts believe the real figure has long been between 2 and 4 million.^[5]

The Republic of India is the seventh largest and second most populous country in the world. With acceleration in economic growth, India has become one of the fastest growing developing countries. This has created a rift between poor and rich; 22 per cent of the population lives below the income poverty line. Due to unemployment, increasing rural-urban migration, attraction of city life and a lack of political will India now has one largest number of child laborers in the world.

Street children are subject to malnutrition, hunger, health problems, substance abuse, theft, CSE, harassment by the city police and railway authorities, as well as physical and sexual abuse. Though Government of India has taken some corrective measures and declared child labor as illegal.

The Council of Europe estimates that there are approximately 1000 street children in Bucharest, Romania, though estimates range from several hundred to 10,000. These children are homeless as a result of the policies of former Communist ruler Nicolae Ceauşescu, who forbade contraception in the hopes of ruling a populous nation, or of his successors, who consider the economy of greater importance than social welfare. Many of these children are abandoned or run away from home because their parents are too poor to feed them.

Some Romanian street children are preyed on by sex tourists, mainly from western Europe, and many can be seen inhaling aurolac (a paint thinner) from plastic bags, the substance of choice for those of limited means.

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Estimates on the numbers of Brazilian street children vary from 200,000 to 8 million. In one recent survey in São Paulo, 609 children were found to be sleeping on the streets. At least 50 were under 12 and unaccompanied by adult relations.

The main means of surviving on Brazil's streets are: finding food in rubbish bins or on refuse tips; being financially exploited by street sellers or as shoe shiners; stealing; prostitution; drug running.

Street children are known to receive beatings from the police or members of the public and also can face imprisonment, malnutrition, disease and AIDS.

Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world with a population of approximately 190 million people. The disparity between the rich and the poor in Brazilian society is one of the largest. The richest 1% of Brazil's population control 50% of its income. The poorest 50% of society live on just 10% of the country's wealth.

Street children are an urban problem which has roots in rural poverty, neglect and the enforced, even violent displacement of large numbers of people from the land.

This problem is accentuated by the fact that the urban population is becoming younger. In Latin America alone, projections for the year 2020 point to 300 million urban minors, 30% of whom will be extremely poor [Ref: Independent Commission on International Issues]. 78% of the Brazilian population live in cities and towns.

The persistent poverty, rapid industrialisation and the burgeoning of urban shanty towns (favelas), generate massive social and economic upheaval. Profound poverty means family disintegration, violence and break-up become more prevalent.

Most of Brazil's street children expect to be killed before they are 18. Between 4 and 5 adolescents are murdered daily and that every 12 minutes a child is beaten [Ref: Brazil's National Movement of Street Children]. Conservative figures put the number at 2 killings every day.

There are reports that some children have been executed and/or mutilated. In July 1993, eight children and adolescents were killed in a shooting near the Candelária Church in Rio. This event was widely publicised around the world, and the routine killing of street children in Brazil was harshly criticised. As a result, the death squads moved underground. However, corrupt officials are still reputed to be involved - In São Paulo, 20% of homicides committed by the police were against minors in the first months of 1999.^{[citations needed]}

The death squads have been met with little opposition from ordinary people, who feel threatened by gangs of children. Some members of the police force also fear the children, who are becoming knowledgeable witnesses to corrupt criminal activities by officials in the drug and prostitution business.^{[citations needed]}

Drug gangs now account for roughly half the child murders in Rio [Rio de Janeiro State Legislature]. Since the 1990s, a pervasive drug culture has been burgeoning. Today, Brazil ranks as the second biggest consumer of cocaine in the world, after the USA. As a result, in Rio's 680 favelas (where 25% of the city's population live) drug gangs control extremely violent areas. Some street children are recruited by such drug gangs and given guns for protection. They then traffic drugs and messages between sellers and buyers. A child's chance of dying in the drug areas of the favelas is "eight to nine times greater than in the Middle East". [Ref: Save The Children] Guns have been blamed for the violence instead of the socioeconomic conditions and other fundamental causes. This controversy has been examined thoroughly by Economist Dr. John Lott at Harvard proving that gun pervasiveness is not linked to crime, drugs or violence as evidenced by statistics on crime, drugs and violence worldwide. For example the highest gun ownership countries have some of the lowest rates of drugs, crime and violence such as Switzerland or Finland, while countries wholly disarmed have the highest rates of murders, drug abuse, violence and crime such as Russia and Jamaica. (Lott, Jr., John R. More Guns, Less Crime. Second Edition. 332 p. 6 x 9 2000 Series:(SLE) Studies in Law and Economics ISBN: 978-0-226-49364-0 Spring 2000)

• Benposta
• Homelessness
• Orphan
• Runaway child
• Street children angeles philippines

• Consortium for Street Children
• Addiction of street children in Nepal

• Jubilee Action report "Brazilian Street Children"
• State of the World’s Street Children: Violence