Rape and Violence: Street Children’s Horror on Ugandan Streets

Shocking statistics on the number of children living and working on the streets of Uganda have been revealed in a study that draws on the first-hand experiences of these vulnerable young people, Chimp Corps report.

This was discovered by the global anti-slavery charity, Hope for Justice after over a month-long period of research.

The report discovered that there are 15,500 children, aged seven to 17, living and/or working on the streets across Iganga, Jinja, Mbale and Kampala.

Dozens of children are known to travel this route through eastern Uganda with the aim of reaching their destination, Kampala, the country’s capital, where they hope to find work, food and a better way of life.

There are more than 750 children aged under seven living and/or working on the streets across the four locations.

An estimated 2,600 children, aged seven to 17, are living on the streets in Kampala, Uganda’s capital.

A total of 80 per cent of children living on the streets and 38 per cent of children working on the streets are not attending school. These children are often four years behind in their education.

One 15-year-old boy from Iganga told us: “My parents died when I was still young and so I wasn’t able to study.”

The report also found that 15,500 children were exposed to hazardous work on the streets, such as scavenging, carrying loads and selling goods. This is on a daily basis for children living on the streets as well as for 50 per cent of children working on the streets.

Hope for Justice has since made urgent calls for stakeholders to focus on prevention, early intervention, short-term transitional care and to “adequately resource” the education sector so that children are given equal access to schooling.

The organisation’s report, ‘Enumeration of Children on the Streets in Uganda across Four Locations: Iganga, Jinja, Mbale and Kampala’, and recommendations have been endorsed by the Ugandan government.

This major study brings together the children’s perspectives on their experiences, reasons why children end up on the streets, insights into their characteristics, and data.

Dozens of children are known to travel this route through eastern Uganda with the aim of reaching their destination, Kampala, the country’s capital,

Rape and sexual abuse were significant challenges reported by the girls who were interviewed as part of the study.

A 17-year-old girl said: “Youth gangs move around the streets at night. There were 10 of them and they said to me, ‘You are a beautiful young lady, what are you doing outside at this time? If you refuse to have sex with us, we are going to stab you and leave you dead. If you dare fight back, we will kill you.’”

In addition to emotional trauma, sexual abuse exposed the girls to sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS. Girls also became pregnant and some ended up delivering their babies on the streets. The study revealed that these children lack an appropriate way to report their cases and to seek medical attention.

Almost every child the charity spoke to shared their dreams and ambitions in life, including returning to school or pursuing a career to become a good citizen; they hoped that they would be able to realise them at one point in their lifetime.

Children spoke of poverty, family instability and violence as playing a major role in pushing them to look for a better life elsewhere.

The study revealed that most children had had a poor, unhappy and unstable family experience, including physical, emotional and sexual abuse.

Almost every child the charity spoke to shared their dreams and ambitions in life, including returning to school or pursuing a career to become a good citizen

A 10-year-old boy from Jinja said: “They used to beat me because I was falling behind at school or because I wasn’t quick enough fetching water from the well. They used to beat me using sticks. Dad used to beat me the most.”

The enumeration and the qualitative study revealed that many families are not getting the support they need to fully care for their children, and that difficulties in accessing education, largely due to costs, is another key factor in children’s presence on the streets.

Florence Soyekwo, Uganda Country Director at Hope for Justice, said: “The Enumeration Report is an important piece of work that sheds light on the scale, experiences, and demographic makeup of children living and working on the streets. We have learned several things from the study that have informed our response – namely, the reasons why children enter life on the streets, what their experiences are, and the kinds of risks to exploitation they encounter.

“The publication and endorsement of this report by the Ugandan government is a milestone achievement because it allows for a coordinated effort to combat child exploitation.

“This is the first study of its kind to be conducted in Uganda using this methodology. By using evidence such as this to inform policy and practice, we remain agile, responsive, and proactive in our approach to combatting the exploitation of some of the most vulnerable groups in Uganda.”

James Ebitu, Ugandan Permanent Secretary for The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD), endorsing the study, wrote: “This study is important in informing the development of comprehensive, long-term national strategies on street connected children; addressing both prevention and response.

“This study report gives many insights into the problem of street connected children in Uganda. I therefore highly recommend it to all stakeholders to inform inter-sectoral interventions on street connected children in Uganda to enable all the affected children grow and develop in safe families.”

Children spoke of poverty, family instability and violence as playing a major role in pushing them to look for a better life elsewhere

Recommendations

Hope for Justice called stakeholders, state and non-state actors, to place a new focus on prevention, early interventions, and the provision of short-term transitional care for children living on the streets, including raising awareness of child labour, child trafficking and young people’s right to work in conditions that are not exploitative.

The charity urged the government to “adequately resource” the education sector to enable all children to attend primary school, regardless of their ability to pay for fees and other educational resources.

The charity further recommended that law enforcement and local authorities are trained and equipped to prevent and identify trafficking, to ensure that child victims are given access to appropriate care and protection, and that perpetrators are prosecuted.

The compilation of the study involved collaboration with the Uganda Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD) on the planning, process and delivery, and with technical support from the Ugandan Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), including the training of enumerators, data quality checks and a review of the dataset, as well as the support of police, district offices and NGOs.

The study was funded by a private foundation and The Red Nose Day Fund.