Who are Street Children?
It is a heartbreaking sight to see children begging, selling trinkets and working in the streets of Pakistan. Their ragged clothes, unkempt hair and sunburnt faces reveal the harsh reality of their lives. Street children are defined as “children of all ages who live and work in the streets and are not adequately protected or supervised” This includes both children who are homeless and those who have a home but spend a significant amount of time on the streets.
Street-connected Children
Street-connected children are those for whom the streets are a central reference point in terms of identity or survival – whether they live on the streets, work on the streets, have support networks on the streets, or a combination of the three.
Types and Categories of Street Children
UNICEF’s definition includes three different categories:
- children ‘of’ the street (street-living children), who sleep in public places without their families
- children ‘on’ the street (street working children), who work on the streets during the day and return to their family home to sleep, and
- street-family children who live with their family on the street.
Evolution of Definitions
The term “street child,” used by the Commission on Human Rights in 1994, was to describe “any girl or boy […] for whom the street (in the broadest sense of the word, including unoccupied dwellings, wasteland, etc.) has become his or her habitual abode and/ or source of livelihood, and who is inadequately protected, supervised or directed by responsible adults.”
At that time, “street children” were categorized as either children on the street, who worked on the street and went home to their families at night; children of the street, who lived on the street, were functionally without family support but maintained family links; or abandoned children who lived completely on their own(United Nations, 2012).
These definitions from the 1980s came under review, as it came to be acknowledged that children often moved between these categories. Alternative definitions also moved towards recognising children’s agency and capabilities as social actors.
Children “in street situations” as a broader term was used by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in order to put the accent on the situation in which children may find themselves. It encompasses: (a) children who depend on the streets to live and/or work, whether alone, with peers or with family; and (b) a wider population of children who have formed strong connections with public spaces and for whom the street plays a vital role in their everyday lives and identities. This wider population includes children who periodically, but not always, live and/or work on the streets and children who do not live or work on the streets but who regularly accompany their peers, siblings or family in the streets(Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2017).
According to the Consortium for Street Children, “street-connected” is used to describe children who:
- Depend on the streets to live and / or work, either on their own, or with other children or family members; and
- Have a strong connection to public spaces (e.g. streets, markets, parks, bus or train stations) and for whom the street plays a vital role in their everyday lives and identities.This wider group includes children who do not live or work on the street but regularly accompany other children or family members in the streets.
This broader term challenges the perception that “street children” are a monolithic or homogenous group. It opens the discussion up to a wide swathe of urban society that is often excluded from mainstream services, while also challenging the one-dimensional picture of a “street child.”