NEW YORK - The sexual exploitation of children in street situations represents one of the most acute and under-addressed manifestations of child rights violations globally, a UN Special Rapporteur said today.
"These children are among the most marginalised in the world and they face systemic discrimination, and routine exclusion from essential services such as healthcare, education, and access to justice," said Mama Fatima Singhateh, UN Special Rapporteur on the sale, sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children in her report to the General Assembly.
"They are frequently excluded from national data collection exercises and household-based surveys, rendering them invisible in public planning. As a result, they are often not factored into national strategies addressing health, education and child protection, reinforcing cycles of neglect and marginalisation," Singhateh added.
The report evaluates current responses by States and child protection stakeholders to this issue, and outlines recommendations for strengthening the identification and promotion of effective, child-centred solutions.
"It is imperative to put in place a comprehensive, child-centred response that upholds the dignity, rights and best interests of every child in street situations," the expert said.
The report also outlines key response strategies grounded in the principles of prevention, protection, accountability, participation and inclusion. It emphasises the need to strengthen national child protection systems, enhance access to services and justice and ensure that children's voices shape the policies and programmes intended to safeguard them.
"Protecting children in street situations from sexual exploitation requires a holistic, rights-based and child-centred framework that addresses both structural causes and individual vulnerabilities," Singhateh said.
"A reliable, disaggregated data collection system is also important to ensure that children in street situations are visible within national protection systems, and to support the development of effective, evidence-based responses to sexual exploitation," the expert added.
The Special Rapporteur emphasised the urgent need to recognise children in street situations as among the most marginalised populations globally.
"Without deliberate legal recognition and targeted measures to address their unique vulnerabilities, the risk of street-connected children being left behind or entirely excluded from national development agendas remains alarmingly high," Singhateh said.
