Street children

Gavroche, a fictional character in the historical novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, is inspired by the street children who existed in France in the 19th century.
Multiethnic group of "street gamins" in Istanbul (then known in English as Constantinople), 1921

Street children are poor or homeless children who live on the streets of a city, town, or village. Homeless youth are often called street kids, or urchins; the definition of street children is contested, but many practitioners and policymakers use UNICEF's concept of boys and girls, aged under 18 years, for whom "the street" (including unoccupied dwellings and wasteland) has become home and/or their source of livelihood, and who are inadequately protected or supervised.[1] Street girls are sometimes called gamines,[2][3][4] a term that is also used for Colombian street children of either sex.[5][6][7]

Some street children, notably in more developed nations, are part of a subcategory called thrown-away children, consisting of children who have been forced to leave home. Thrown-away children are more likely to come from single-parent homes.[8] Street children are often subject to abuse, neglect, exploitation, or, in extreme cases, murder by "clean-up squads" that have been hired by local businesses or police.[9]

  1. ^ Sarah Thomas de Benitez (23 February 2009). "State of the World's Street Children: Violence Report". SlideShare. SlideShare Inc. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  2. ^ "Gamine | Define Gamine at Dictionary.com". Reference.com. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2014. noun 1. a neglected girl who is left to run about the streets. [...]
  3. ^ "Gamine - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary". Merriam-Webster. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2014. Full Definition of GAMINE 1: a girl who hangs around on the streets [...]
  4. ^ "gamine: definition of gamine in Oxford dictionary (British & World English)". Oxford Dictionaries Online. Archived from the original on 20 May 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2014. [...] 2 (dated) A female street urchin: 'I left school and fell in with some gamines'
  5. ^ Kirk (1994)
  6. ^ "Street Children in Colombia". SOS Children's Villages. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  7. ^ "Alcohol Use Disorders in Homeless Populations" (PDF). NIAAA. 23 August 2004. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  8. ^ Flowers (2010), pp. 20–21
  9. ^ Berezina, Evgenia (1997). "Victimization and Abuse of Street Children Worldwide" (PDF). Youth Advocate Program International Resource Paper. Yapi. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 March 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2012.