Street Children Remain Neglected

Children living on the streets remain prone to becoming victims of physical and sexual violence.

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

Two underage girls loiter on Tuesday (19/11/2019) on a sidewalk near an intersection in the Gelora area, Central Jakarta. The victims of adult exploitation, many children in the capital are forced to work late into the night, begging on the streets. A comprehensive solution is needed from all stakeholders to tackle this violation of children’s rights.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Indonesia has yet to take children off the streets. As of 2018, based on data from the Social Affairs Ministry, 12,000 Indonesian children are still on the streets. The ministry’s 2017 data listed five provinces with the largest number of street children, which were West Java, Jakarta, East Java, Central Java and North Sumatra.

Street children, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), are children who leave their homes/families and live alone on the streets, children who spend most of their time working on the streets and children who along with their families live on the streets. In Indonesia, as shown by the ministry’s data, street children are mostly found in major cities.