How violence in the streets makes a child grow up quickly

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How violence in the streets makes a child grow up quickly
The wider society plays an important part in the lives of the street children. Values and customs of the mainstream society mould attitudes towards violence, human rights and children. The society creates conditions which can compel families and children to the end or a flourishing environment for children. Institutions or detention centers created by the governments can be very disastrous to children or can help them towards reintegration. Community based organizations as well as the state, provide shelter care facilities. Both state and non-governmental organization programmes are provided to act on behalf of the society at large. They are both funded by tax contributions and donations from the civil society.
Street children are often removed from public places and encouraged to leave the streets purposely for reform, rehabilitation, or protection. Across the world, people have received reports of abuse and neglect in welfare shelters and detention centers. Records of violence against street children in residential centers are usually found in juvenile detention centers and prisons meant for adults (Pradhan 71).
Guards, adult detainees and other children detainees perpetrate physical, sexual and psychological abuses. Continued stigmatization and neglect of street children and at worst state encouragement of violence against children, best reflects violence in governmental institutions. Inadequate staffing and poor physical conditions gives a clear picture of the last priority given by policy makers to the improvement of the future life chances of street children. Violence for children is normalized by abuse in institutions. This exacerbates the effects of past violence in street children, whether as perpetrators or victims.
The staff members of an NGO called Every Child made a case study. In case study by Every Child in Kyrgyzstan, they gave a story of a child called Bektur. The study shows how easily unprotected children can be put under state detention in conditions of impunity. Here is the story; as fifteen years old boy Bektur was found in Karasu city found 25 km away from Osh city in September 2006. He had come to Osh city in June 2006 from Alay region of Osh province to earn money and help his family during his school holidays. This was because he knew many ways of earning money in Osh city than in his own home area. Bektur lived with a single mother who had been divorced by his father. There was immense lack of finance as his mother looked after his younger siblings.
He felt so lucky when he secured a job on a building site whose owner was a businessman from Osh city. He was hired as an unskilled laborer, a collection of workers without a contract then promised to be given five thousand soms which approximated to U$$ 125 by his employer when the construction ended. Bektur thought this was a good support for his family. Bektur lived in a nearby abandoned house for three months while he worked on the construction site. But later when the job was over the employer said he didn’t owe Bektur any money. This stunned Bektur and he became angry. He took a tape recorder and some other items which belonged to his employer and headed to Osh city where he expected to sell the items only to be caught by his ex- employer. Bektur was accused of theft, taken to detention centre in Karsu city and locked up. Police had contacts with his former boss while Bektur knew no one.
A month later, Every Child and a team of human rights activists found Bektur by chance in the detention centre. Osh province’s internal affairs department was the one which had organized this visit to the detention centre. The purpose of the visit was to seek international organizations’ support to improve conditions in the centre. The team and Every Child were taken to cells holding people who had been remanded to wait processing of their cases. They said inmates were only given permission to go out only once in a day to use the toilets and breathe fresh air (Veale 131).
Five people were found sharing a 2m by 2m cell with Bektur; Bektur was the youngest at 15 years while the oldest was 29 years old. The six slept on a rug which covered the floor. A very bad stinking bucket was placed in one of the corners. This bucket served as a makeshift toilet. A number of plastic bottles which were full of drinking and washing water were also present. The cell was lit by a fluorescent lamp and it had no windows. It was terrible hot since it was September.
This was a golden opportunity for Bektur to voice his grievances. “Please help me” he pleaded with the group. “They do not tell me anything. I do not know why I am here! I am not a criminal! He [the employer] has got connections here! I do not know who to turn to.” Bektur’s case was immediately referred for processing to Osh province’s internal affairs department. The head of the department promised to speed up the process. He accepted that Bektur had already spent more than a month in detention. This was the maximum amount of time legally accepted for a minor to be held in detention. He also acknowledged that they had not informed Bektur’s parents about the imprisonment of their son. Even with this, nothing was done after two months. Therefore in November 2006, Bektur’s case was referred to the OSCE in Osh.
Bektur was released from the court room after six months in pre-trial detention on a cold winter’s day on 13th of February 2007. He was granted a suspension sentence. Unfortunately, advance notice of trial was not given to Every Child. They found out Bektur’s release after some time. They did not know where he went; he didn’t even have winter attire. Social workers in Alay were contacted to trace Bektur and his family but Bektur was nowhere to be seen. The Every child did not have Bektur’s exact contacts and had very little about his parents. They were left hoping that Bektur arrived safe at home.
The story above is a clear indication of how street children are forced into maturity by circumstances. Just like Adam Cooper at 15 years old who was forced to mature fast when he decided to join the militia after news that the British army was on attack to their village. Bektur also after realizing that the businessman was not going to pay him his dues he decides to revenge by selling the business man’s property which eventually lands him in cell at a tender age.
Non-governmental organization shelters and other residential services for children who live on the street can contribute to abuse. This can occur through concentrating children used to violence in congested, poorly conditioned, under-staffed and under managed environment. Whether NGOs unwittingly reproduce stereotypes and an inferior opportunity for street children has been a question by many researchers (Veale 131). In USA it has been argued that the existence of non-governmental and governmental shelters may be an incentive to neglect other options for the youth and street children.
Findings from several countries indicate that Street children are global phenomena. A revelation of any investigation carried out in Kathmandu, Nepal showed that street children have the following characteristics; little or no family contact; lack adult care; most important support system is peer group; indulge in several anti-social activities like theft e.t.c; unfulfilled basic needs; beg for money and food; employer exploitation; odd job workers; and street smart especially in outwitting authorities (Pradhan 90). Sixty percent of the population in Nepal lives below poverty line.
Poverty is the most dominant factor behind emergence of street children. In review of research in Indonesia it was found out that poor parents cannot meet the needs of a family that is growing. As a result children are forced on to the streets to work with an intention to increase income of the family. They also want to reduce family size and maximize the purchasing power of the income at hand. More males are found on the streets in Philippines. This is because protection is mostly given to females who are used for domestic work around the homes. Most street children work to supplement...