Misplaced Pages

This article or section possibly contains synthesis of material that does not verifiably mention or relate to the main topic. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. (May 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The phenomenon of street children in the Philippines was first attested in the 1980s. As of 2021 the number of street children in the Philippines is estimated at around 250,000.

Defining Filipino street children

According to the "Stairway" foundation, there are three different categories of street children:

• Children on the streets make up approximately 75% of the street children in the Philippines. They work on the streets but do not live there. They generally have a home to return to after working, and some even continue to attend school while working long hours on the streets.
• Children of the street make their homes on the street. They make up 25%–30% of the street children in the Philippines. They often create a sort of family with their fellow street children. Some of them still have family ties, but may either rarely tend to them or view them negatively.
• Completely abandoned children have no family ties and are entirely on their own for physical and psychological survival. They make up approximately 5%–10% of the street children in the Philippines.

Human rights

The Philippines ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on August 21, 1990. It also ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict on August 26, 2003, and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography on May 28, 2002.

Problems facing street children

Poverty

Children bear the brunt of poverty of affected Filipino families. Poverty, displacement due to armed conflict, and exposure to climatic and environmental impacts are key factors that lead to heightened vulnerability and increases in the number of street children. In 2015, 31.4% of children in the Philippines lived below the poverty line, with poverty rates for children in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao much higher at 63.1%, according to official government estimates.

Street children are more likely to live in poverty, be deprived of access to education and other social services, and experience social discrimination. They are also less likely to have of access to justice or legal status.

Drugs

Some street children take drugs as often as once a day. A 1997 study estimated that up to 40% of street children had used drugs in the past. Other reports suggest that 66% to 85% of children had used inhalants, and 3% had used marijuana and methamphetamine (known locally as "shabu").

Summary execution of street children

Many street children were in danger of summary execution during the Marcos government era. In 2005, a report found that 39 children in Davao City had been killed by vigilante groups since 2001, most after having been released from police detention cells.

Child prostitution

Child prostitutes are used by foreign sex tourists and sexual predators, as well as local people. Some are used to film child pornography, which is rampant in the Philippines. Many street children are lured into prostitution as a means of survival, while others do it to earn money for their families. A variety of different factors contribute to the commercial sexual exploitation of children in the Philippines.

Rooted in poverty, as elsewhere, the problem of child prostitution in Angeles City was exacerbated in the 1980s by Clark Air Base, where bars employed children who ended up as sex workers for American soldiers. Street children are at particular risk because many of the 200 brothels in Angeles offer children for sex. According to 1996 statistics of the Philippine Resource Network, 60,000 of the 1.5 million street children in the Philippines were prostituted.

HIV/AIDS and STDs

There is no HIV testing for children in the Philippines, but approximately 18% of the street children contract sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

NGO responses

This section relies excessively on references to primary sources. Please improve this section by adding secondary or tertiary sources. Find sources: "Street children in the Philippines" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Various organizations have established charities and shelters, providing counseling, food, clothing and religious instruction in an attempt to help street children. These include Street Contact For Children, Subic Bay Children's Home, LifeChild, Spirit and Life Mission House, Tiwala Kids and Communities , Batang Pinangga Foundation, Inc (Cebu) Jireh Children's Home, He Cares Foundation, ANAK-Tnk Foundation, and the Tuloy Foundation, among others.

Notable street children

• Darwin Ramos

See also

• Children in jail in the Philippines
• Rugby boy, street gangs

General:

• Poverty in the Philippines

References

1. Freeman, Michael; Veerman, Philip E. (September 27, 2021). The Ideologies of Children's Rights. BRILL. p. 323. ISBN 978-90-04-48218-0. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
2. ^ "Teachers' Corner – Background(Detail)". Stairway Foundation. Archived from the original on February 27, 2009. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
3. ^ "The Life of Street Children in the Philippines and Initiatives to Help Them". Retrieved July 29, 2015.
4. "Celebrating 30 years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child". OHCHR. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
5. "A situationer of street children in the Philippines" (PDF). Streetchildren Development Center. March 2003. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
6. ^ "Street children are some of the most vulnerable children on the planet". Consortium for Street Children. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
7. "Climate landscape analysis for children in the Philippines" (PDF). UNICEF. 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
8. ^ "Situation Analysis of Children in the Philippines". UNICEF. 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
9. Njord, Levi; Merrill, Ray; Njord, Rebecca; Lindsay, Ryan; Pachano, Jeanette D. R. (May 10, 2010). "Drug Use Among Street Children and Non—Street Children in the Philippines". Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health. 22 (2): 203–211. doi:10.1177/1010539510361515. PMID 20457649. S2CID 206615376.
10. "Preda Foundation, Inc. NEWS/ARTICLES: "Nobel Prize Nominee Lauded Around the World Deserted by His Own"". Archived from the original on August 31, 2009. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
11. Capiloyan, Cleonante. "Globalization and Violence Against Children in the Philippines, 2005". Archived from the original (DOC) on August 23, 2006. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
12. "The Philippines' booming cybersex industry | DW | 04.02.2016". Deutsche Welle.
13. ^ "STREET CHILDREN IN THE PHILIPPINES.pdf" (PDF). Jubilee Action. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 12, 2004. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
14. Agence France-Presse. "Pedophilia: Southeast Asia's sordid secret – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos". Inquirer.net. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
15. "BBC Politics 97". Retrieved July 29, 2015.
16. "Philippines | Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic—and Child Rights". Inter Press Service. Archived from the original on February 2, 2008. Retrieved August 11, 2016.
17. "Subic Bay Children's Home". Sbchome.org. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
18. "LifeChild Asia Foundation Philippines Children's Homes". LifeChild Asia Foundation. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
19. "Tiwala Kids and Communities| Christian Charity for street children Philippines". Tiwala.org. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
20. "Home". Retrieved February 15, 2015.
21. "Jireh Children's Home". pfmonline.org. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
22. "He Cares Foundation Street Children Caring Center: Help the Poor in Metro Manila, Philippines". Retrieved February 15, 2015.
23. "ANAK-Tnk Foundation, Giving Street Children A Second Chance At Life". www.anak-tnk.org. Retrieved August 27, 2016.

v t e Homelessness
People	Aged people Cyber-homeless Families McRefugee Mole people Street people Street children Social orphan Vagrants Bergie Tramps Hobos Youth
Issues	Anti-homelessness legislation Bill of Rights Bumvertising Discrimination Mental health Patient dumping Popular culture Spirituality Vulnerability Index Pets Survival sex Social cleansing Slum clearance
Responses	Soup kitchen Hygiene program Homeless ministry Homelessness services List Street newspaper List Shelters Homeless shelter Cooling center Drop-in center Four penny coffin Penny sit-up Warming center Women's shelter Homeless Friendly Precincts Housing Foyers Housing First Rapid Re-Housing Right to housing Single-room occupancy (SRO) Squatting Tent city Transitional housing Awareness Homelessness Action Week Homeless Persons' Week Homeless World Cup International Year of Shelter for the Homeless Street Child World Cup Youth Homelessness Matters Day
By country	Africa Algeria Egypt Ghanaian children South Africa Americas Canada Vancouver Latin American children United States LGBTQ youth Veterans Women California San Francisco Colorado Columbus Florida Minneapolis New Mexico Oregon Seattle Elsewhere Asia Bangladeshi children China India children Indonesia Iraq Israel Japan North Korea Filipino children Thai children Europe East Eastern European children Hungary Russia North Denmark Finland Ireland Sweden United Kingdom England Scotland South Greece Portugal Spain Vatican City West France Germany Netherlands Switzerland Oceania Australia Papua New Guinea New Zealand
Category

• Homelessness by country
• Poverty in the Philippines
• Street children
• Filipino children
• Childhood in the Philippines