Around seven lakh street children in the country are still vulnerable to violence, sexual abuse, hazardous work and trafficking and rehabilitation of the growing number of such children is becoming a challenging task for the government.
The government is working to give shelter to the vulnerable and street children and it has taken various steps, including rehabilitation program, for these children. Of the seven lakh street children, 2.50 lakh children live in the capital.
According to a study of Combating Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CCSEC) consortium, 86 percent street children are addicted to drugs and most of them are traumatized due to various terrible experiences in their life. The CCSEC project is run with a fund of the European Union (EU). It mainly works to stop sexual abuse of street children.
It finds that over 20,000 children are born and live in 12 registered brothels across the country.
The CCSEC study says it is working on the street children centered at Dhaka’s Mirpur Sha Ali Majar. Sha Ali Majar is used as a center of hund1reds of street children; 12 catchments areas adjacent to Sha Ali Majar, where street children reside and work.
Street children also endure increased risks in regard to their safety and well-being. Many of them work, often in hazardous and low-wage, to support themselves and their families. Street boys are used to petty hefting; girl children are compelled to take sex work as profession; 86 percent children are drug addicted.
Goal of the CCSEC project: the overall objective of the project is to contribute to the elimination of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in Bangladesh.
The specific objective of the project is to protect and promote the rights of survivors and at risk children of CSEC through facilitating implementation of ILO Convention 182 (ILO-C182) and UNCRC Optional Protocol two (UNCRC-OP-2) in Bangladesh.
The CCSEC project covers the Mirpur and Tangail area. Target population is 870 street children and 130 children of sex workers.
The study finds the result of the 1,000 survivors and at risk children of CSEC have been protected from commercial sexual exploitation or similar practices and to guarantee their rights by applying holistic, integral care and Survivors and at risk children of CSEC influence policy and implementation of ILO-C182 and UNCRC-OP-2 in Bangladesh through engaging civil society and media.
CCSEC project is working to implement the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child at their 66th session (26 May-13 June 2014) defined CLO as of “competent bodies” that can provide expert advice on the actual implementation of the UNCRC.
In its general comment No. 12 (2009) on the rights of the children to be heard, the committee explicitly recognized the role that CLOs and children’s representatives play in the reporting process. Also, the UN working methods for the participation of children in the reporting process of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC/C/66/2, 16 Oct. 2014) guided that”-children should be given support and encouragement to form their own organization and initiatives, which will create an environment for them to discuss their rights and express their own views on their State’s progress in a meaningful way.”
