Status and Characteristics of Children Living and/or Working in the Streets in Ethiopia

Abstract

As the prevalence rate of street children is increasing and becoming a pressing
problem in Ethiopia, the purpose of this study is to understand the background status of
street children and to assess their current survival activities across the streets of 21
towns. This survey design study employed quantitative approaches, and the participants
of the survey were street children (n = 661, i.e., 42.8% female and 57.2% male). ISPCAN
Child Abuse Screening Tools for Children (ICAST-C) was used for data collection. Data
collected in this study were analyzed using Univariate techniques of data analysis.
Results of the assessment indicated a median age of 14 years, with average onset age of
going into streets is 11.19 years. Furthermore, family background of the street children
showed that 33.7% have both parents alive, whereas about a third and a fifth of the
population have lost one and both parents respectively. More than half (n=373, 57.1%)
spend their nights outdoors on the street, in which female children have more contact
with surviving parents than male children. Educationally, only 14.2% of the street
children were going to school (23.7% never been to school and 62.1% dropouts). The
outcome also showed that 38.0% of the children were pushed out to the streets due to
domestic violence, and 5.4% (n=36) have a disability; whereas, 54.6% were migrated
into these towns from their natural place. Further details on the outcome, conclusion,
and recommendations of the study were discussed.