One street child drew a picture of a dog, explaining: "This is how society looks at me".
This excerpt from the report "State of the World’s Street Children: Violence" was written by:
Amy Price, Security Coordinator, War Child (www.warchild.org.uk)
The report in full [PDF] can be downloaded from here: State of the World’s Street Children: Violence.
The security situation in Iraq continues to deteriorate rapidly as a result of increased sectarian violence. Violence which has been mainly limited to Baghdad and other areas in the north is spreading and southern cities such as Nassiriyah that have until recently been relatively calm are now witnessing a spike in targeted attacks by militants. International relief agencies are (understandably) reluctant to operate in such unstable environments, leaving vulnerable children, including those living and working on the streets, with frighteningly little support59. In September 2006 War Child conducted an in-depth qualitative study in the southern Iraqi cities of Basra and Nassiriyah with 69 children: street workers, children in detention, girls accused of morality crimes and young drug users (some respondents belonging to more than one category). Our aim was to explore issues faced by these children and to develop recommendations with them. The study’s final report60 concluded that essential needs of the most marginalised children such as street children are not being met – either by Iraq’s state system or by NGOs.
Street children who participated in the study usually said they were forced onto the streets in search of work because of poverty and family breakdown (the former often precipitating the latter). Street working children reported they had been unable to continue their education61 and most children War Child spoke to were illiterate. With employment opportunities scarce, street working children have little option but to accept dangerous and demeaning jobs such as selling drugs or alcohol, pushing carts or searching through rubbish dumps for materials to sell. As 12-year-old Ashraf said: “We are born to work. This is our life.” Our research team was told of a boy electrocuted while attempting to remove wire from an electric pole to sell and whose body remained on the pole for 3 days. Street working children also talked of exploitation by employers who delayed payments (sometimes for months) while verbally and physically abusing their charges. Some children told us they themselves use violence and aggression as a way of dealing with their circumstances. Street working children also reported sexual abuse at the hands of adults and peers and felt stigmatised by the wider community: during our research one street child drew a picture of a dog, explaining: "This is how society looks at me".
We spoke to Mustapha, aged 10, who reported that he had been so severely abused by his stepfather (his father was killed as a result of sectarian violence) that he felt he had no option but to leave home. Mustapha lived on the streets making a living selling drugs and alcohol. He soon started taking drugs himself, was arrested by the police and sent to a juvenile detention centre, where we interviewed him. Mustapha blames himself for his situation and self-harms regularly to deal with the pain and trauma he suffers. Mustapha dreams of leaving prison and setting up his own shop.
Some children in detention in south Iraq are street working children from dislocated and acutely poor families who come into conflict with the law by working on the streets selling drugs or pornography or engaging in sex work. These children reported being subjected to violence by prison guards and other inmates. Most said that lack of access to schooling had contributed to their imprisonment, along with abusive relationships with family members. 14-year-old Zahir said, “Prison won’t solve our problems. Why don’t they arrest our families who have neglected us and abused us instead, or our relatives who have involved us in criminal activities?” Zahir and others reported that terrorism was making things worse: increasing poverty and creating a climate of violence that affected their own lives.
In 2006, with UNHCR co-funding, War Child awarded grants to twenty local child protection organizations for a number of projects including awareness-raising on issues of violence and discrimination in schools and trained social workers to help them to better respond to needs and advocate for the rights of excluded children. War Child also piloted a livelihoods programme for vulnerable families to protect children by strengthening families’ economic capacities. Our 2007 objectives in Iraq are: to continue building local capacity to protect marginalised children including street working children; and to help families in Nassiriyah develop viable livelihoods to prevent children from being forced onto the streets in search of employment.
Indexed under: Child Drug Addiction, Child Poverty, Child Prostitution, Children, Poverty, Women and Children