Street Kids.

[DaRk WaVe]

ever thought about the Children who sell little things out on roads, clean your wind shields & beg you for money...

I suppose you would have thought at least once about them

purpose of thread
To let you people know about these innocents & take out mere five minutes out of your lives & think about them

PS: Don't turn it into a XYZ vs ABC thread

PAKISTAN: 1.2 Million Street Children Abandoned and Exploited

An estimated 1.2 million children are on the streets of Pakistan's major cities and urban centres, constituting the country's largest and most ostracised social group. These include 'Runaway' children who live or work on the street, as well as the minority that return to their families at the end of the day with their meagre earnings.

According to a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) survey, 72% of working children do not have contact with their families and 10% have no knowledge of their families.

"World Vision is gravely concerned with their growing numbers. Children are turningto the streets amidst increasing poverty, unemployment, swelling family size and social disintegration seen in abuse in schools, as well as domestic violence, neglect and family breakdown," said World Vision Country Director, Sigurd Hanson.

Statistics bode ill for this nation where more than 40% of the population is under 15, 48 million people live below the poverty line and earn less than US.00 a day. Nine out of 100 children die before they reach their first birthday. Half the population is illiterate.

"Street wise" as early as four, these children beg and scavenge around rubbish dumps or industrial waste sites or take on menial jobs as cart pushers or dish washers, working 12-15 hours a day to earn around 75 rupees or US.25- enough to buy a meal if they are fortunate. Most survive by prostituting themselves, stealing or smuggling, making them vulnerable to contracting sexually transmitted infections, HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Jaundice and liver or kidney disorders. A large proportion
sniffs cheap, readily available solvents to starve off hunger, loneliness and fear.

Child 'rental' for begging is a new and increasingly popular phenomenon among poor households. Parents 'rent' their children out to an individual or group and both parties share the child's earnings. The inhumane treatment drives children to drugs and into the arms of criminal gangs who promise protection, food and a better life.[Source: CRIN]

Number of street kids rises in City​

KARACHI - The number of street children is increasing alarmingly due to the sheer negligence of the authorities
concerned, while the figure of these children across the country has reached to 1.2 million out of which 30,000
homeless children are in Karachi, The Nation learnt on Monday.
Around 43 per cent among the total population are under 15 years of age, including approximate 48 million
adults living under the poverty line earning less than one dollar a day.
The Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) figured out population boom, urbanisation and
poverty - vital causes for the increase in number of the street children in Pakistan. Non-implementation of child
security laws is also to blame.
Among other reasons are widespread child labour and poor quality of education, which let the children to come
out on streets to share their family’s financial burden, however, abusive environment at homes and corporal
punishment in schools add to their miseries. In some cases bad company and desire for unrestricted freedom
prompt them to leave homes in rural areas and low-income localities of our cities, especially in southern Punjab
and parts of NWFP.
According to the facts, the City District Government Karachi has produced that in Karachi alone the number of
street children has crossed the figure of 25,000.
Children on the streets are susceptible to all kinds of violence and easy prey for all types of abusers. Being
young, poor, illiterate and defenceless, children are abused and exploited, sexually, verbally, emotionally and
psychologically. Violence could range anything between harassment to pedophilia, sexual abuse and sodomy,
coerced to join gangs of criminals and used as drug traffickers or turned into beggars by the beggars’ mafia.
The police are also among the leading enemies of street children, as indiscriminate violations against children
are committed with impunity because of no fear of reprisal from the law and the society.
Street children have nowhere to turn for protection, emotional support and comradeship except the members of
their own band in which often a bully (who himself could be a victim of physical and sexual abuse) treats the young or weaker ones as once he was treated as a child.
Some limited surveys and interviews conducted by various NGOs show that an alarming 80 to 90 per cent of the
street children are victims of sodomy, sexual and physical abuse not just by elders but older children within their
own gangs. A majority of them is drug addicted, and the most popular and affordable of the drug is glue what
these children inhale by putting it on a piece of cloth.
One can see young boys sniffing this glue openly on the streets and pavements that according to one user,
tingles nose and makes one slightly drowsy. The use of other drugs including hashish, and even heroin is also
rampant among of these streets children.
Children living on the street, start work as early as 4.00am, they beg and scavenge around rubbish dumps or
industrial waste sites and take on menial jobs as cart-pushers or dishwashers working 12-15 hours a day to
earn enough to buy a meal, if they are lucky.
Most survive by prostituting themselves and stealing, making them vulnerable to contracting sexually transmitted
diseases (STD)’s such as HIV and AIDS. They are also at high risk of health problems such as tuberculosis,
jaundice and kidney disorders.
A study by the Pakistan Society estimates that when the population was 10,000 in Karachi 83 per cent of street
children were sniffing glue between the ages of 8-19. 54 per cent left home at age 10-12. 45 per cent children
living on streets are involved in crimes and 49 per cent are at high risk of HIV and AIDS.
Be it economic or social factors, street children leave their homes for an uncertain future. They have no access
to basic amenities such as health, education, or food. In the back alleys of Karachi’s bustling areas, the stench of
urine pervading the whole place, children as young as five huddle in groups of 8 to 10 for warmth and security at
night.

 

[DaRk WaVe]

 

[DaRk WaVe]

 

[DaRk WaVe]

 

[DaRk WaVe]

Street children: a vicious cycle of violence & poverty​

KARACHI: The links between poverty, child abuse and child labour take on renewed significance given that there are an estimated 70,000 children on the streets in Pakistan. Data complied by the Azad Foundation indicates that there are 12,000 homeless children between the ages of seven and 17 in Karachi alone, while a report presented by the Madadgar helpline for women and children says that the figure could be as high as 15,000.

Where violence and poverty forced the majority of these children to abandon their homes in the first place, the viciousness of life on the street forces them towards crime and substance abuse.

Research conducted by some non-profit organisations shows the most such runaways come from large families that have recently migrated to Karachi from various rural areas. In the city, most of them come from areas such as Korangi, PIB Colony and Macher Colony. The fact that an estimated 66 per cent cite physical abuse at home or at the workplace as the reason they ran away seems to prove American writer Zig Ziglar’s comment that “Kids go where there is excitement; they stay where there is love.”

Abuse and addiction

According to Anwer Qazi, secretary to Abdul Sattar Edhi, the majority of the runaways are boys and most of them are addicted to sniffing glue or petrol or smoking cigarettes, hashish and even heroin. While the Sindh Child Act and a number of other laws declare the government responsible for the safety and protection of all children, there is no official support network in place to help them. Mr Qazi told Dawn that the police bring a few such destitutes to the Edhi Centre but the boys usually elect to return to the street and scrounge for food and small change.

Such boys are often encouraged to leave their homes by an acquaintance who has already done it, and few ever return. Dr Aisha Mahnaz, a paediatric doctor and a member of the Kompal Child Abuse Prevention Society says that runaways generally join a group of other street children, and the newest entrant becomes the group leader’s favourite. While this brings access to drugs, food and clothing, it also means sexual abuse by the group leader. According to Dr Mahnaz, homosexuality is prevalent among street children and a new member is initially protected from everyone except the leader, till he is replaced as the favourite.

On their own, such boys are vulnerable to being sexually abused by the drivers of transport vehicles and upper class men, says Aqsa Zainab, project manager of the Azad Foundation. They therefore prefer to stay in a gang where such widespread abuse is less likely. However, the vicious cycle of sexual abuse means that the victim soon develops the character of an abuser and forms his own gang of younger street children, she comments.

A circle of violence

Most such boys carry a razor blade with them as a means of self-protection or the intimidation of others. Sometimes, says Ms Zainab, the group leader will even instigate boys to fight each other or injure themselves to prove their loyalty.

The face, neck and wrists of 12-year-old Shahid are crisscrossed with cuts he received in various fights, and malnourishment makes him look far younger than he is. He left home when he was seven and has been sleeping on footpaths and in parks since then. He says that he is one of 12 siblings and his family is very poor. “My mother used to force us to stitch cloth flowers all day and she never let us play,” he recalls. “She would beat me when I didn’t do as she said.” He concedes that she probably did love him and that he misses his siblings but says that he does not want to return home.

While Shahid maintains that he has never been sexually abused, 12-year-old Salman has a different story to tell. “Men and other boys on the street used to make me do such immoral things,” he said, “I was much weaker than them.” Salman ran away from his house some years ago because after his father’s death, his maternal uncle abused him and his sister. “I beg and steal to survive,” he admitted, and said that boys like him are often harassed and robbed by policemen.

Both boys said that they sniff glue and smoke hashish, which are easily available and inexpensive.

Unable to find employment, some runaways turn to prostitution. Such boys are often found at the Mauripur truck stand, Essa Nagri, Lee Market, Saddar, Gurumandir, Numaish, Sohrab Goth, Husainabad, Water Pump, Aisha Manzil and Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s shrine. Their services are usually hired for an entire day, for which they earn up to Rs50.

Little help at hand

Rapid urbanisation, spiralling homelessness and poverty mean that the numbers of children on the street are growing every day. Yet hardly any organisations are working on the issue. The Azad Foundation (AF) provides runaway children with counselling and recreational facilities, while Dastak – a joint AF and European Commission and Group Development (ECGD) venture – provides vocational training, informal education and rehabilitation services. The organisation plans to establish a shelter with the support of the ECGD and the City District Government Karachi. However, as long as the issues that cause children to run away in the first place remain unaddressed, shelters can only a be, at best, a short-term solution.

 

[DaRk WaVe]

Poverty Forces These Children to Sleep in the Strangest Places​

 

[Imran Khan]

so so sad i feel pain.

 

[DaRk WaVe]

 

[DaRk WaVe]

 

[DaRk WaVe]

 

[Kompromat]

 

[Kompromat]

Simply heart breaking.

 

[Kompromat]

self delete.

 

[DaRk WaVe]

h@t3 u 3m0 u made me cry...

why the h3ck th!$ ****** world is s0 unjust

boy selling tissue paper

 

[Kompromat]

boy selling tissue paper

This picture has just broken my heart.