Citation

Scanlon TJ, Tomkins A, Lynch MA, Scanlon F. Br. Med. J. BMJ 1998; 316(7144): 1596-1600.

Affiliation

Centre for International Child Health, Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust, University College London Medical School, London WC1N 1EH. cich@ich.ucl.ac.uk

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9596604

PMCID

PMC1113205

Abstract

Worldwide, millions of children live on the streets. These children typically have access to neither health care nor education. Sometimes subjected to violence in the home before taking to the street, street children are seen by many as worthless, and many countries have used violent and punitive measures to eliminate them. New approaches have recently been implemented to return these children to society and their families. In the case of South America, children who are on the street are home-based and spend much of the day on the street, but have some family support and usually return home at night. Children of the street are street-based children who spend most days and nights on the street and are functionally without family support. Studies suggest that 80-90% of street children in Latin America have some contact with their families. Surveys also indicate that street children in Latin America are 8-17 years old, with 9 years old being the average age upon entering the street. Girls comprise 10-15% of street children and Black and mixed race children may be over-represented among street children in the region. Both published and unpublished research findings are used to shed light upon the status of street children in South America. The authors consider how many street children there may be, why there are street children, the problems they encounter, and what can be done to help them.

Language: en