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A street child is a child "for whom the street (in the widest 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".[1]
India has an estimated one hundred thousand or more street children in each of the following cities: New Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai.[2] Mainly because of family conflict, they come to live on the streets and take on the full responsibilities of caring for themselves, including working to provide for and protecting themselves. Though street children do sometimes band together for greater security, they are often exploited by employers and the police.[3][4]
Their many vulnerabilities require specific legislation and attention from the government and other organisations to improve their condition.[1]
- ^ a b Thomas de Benítez, Sarah (2007). "State of the world's street children". Consortium for Street Children. Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
- ^ Poonam R. Naik, Seema S. Bansode, Ratnenedra R. Shinde & Abhay S. Nirgude (2011). "Street children of Mumbai: demographic profile and substance abuse". Biomedical Research. 22 (4): 495–498.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Chatterjee, A. (1992). "India: The forgotten children of the cities". Papers. Florence, Italy: Unicef. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
- ^ Bose, A.B. (1992). "The Disadvantaged Urban Child in India". Innocenti Occasional Papers, Urban Child Series. Retrieved February 20, 2012.