Street children in Eastern Europe

Street children or orphans in some Eastern European countries face problems such as malnutrition, HIV, lack of resources, victimization though child sex tourism, social stigmatization and discrimination.

Children living on the streets often come from a background of poverty and abuse, and a normal childhood is replaced by violence and crime. These children live in tunnels, garbage containers, and basements. In the winter, they take comfort from hot water pipes whose steam provides them with much needed warmth. However, as many of the Eastern European countries joined the European Union, they were required to deal with the situation of street children and orphans; and the situation has improved in many of these countries. Unemployment and the extremes of income inequality are some of the causes behind the phenomenon of street children in countries like Russia, Romania and Ukraine.

The phenomenon of street children in Romania must be understood within the local historical context. Under Nicolae Ceauşescu, both abortion and contraception were forbidden, leading to a rise in birth rates. In October 1966, the Decree 770 was enacted, which banned abortion, except in exceptional cases. There was an increase in the number of births in the following years, especially in the 1967-1968 period, which resulted in many children being abandoned, and these children were joined in the orphanages by disabled and mentally ill people. Together, these vulnerable groups were subjected to institutionalised neglect and abuse, including physical and sexual abuse and use of drugs to control behaviour. After the fall of communism (December 1989), the conditions which existed in the orphanages were leaked internationally, and created outrage. A news report on the American newsmagazine 20/20, which first aired on October 5, 1990, was the first to show the conditions in full detail on television. The 1990s was a difficult transition period, and it is during this period that the number of street children was very high. Some ran away or were thrown out of orphanages or abusive homes, and were often seen begging or roaming around the Bucharest Metro; this situation was presented in a documentary called Children Underground, which depicted the life of Romanian street children in 2001. In the 21st century, Romania has taken drastic steps to stop the phenomenons of mistreatment and exploitation of children and child abandonment, and to improve the situation of orphans, especially as it prepared itself to become a member of the European Union. As such, the number of street children declined markedly. Around 2004, about 500 children lived permanently in the streets of Bucharest, while other children (less than 1,500) worked in the streets during the day, but returned home to their families in the evenings - making a total of 2,000 street children in Romania’s capital.Child begging is a problem that Romania has taken many steps to prevent, including through creating criminal offenses relating to it under the Penal Code, as well as through other civil sanctions that can be applied to parents. Parents who encourage or force children under 18 to beg or to prostitute themselves can face criminal charges. With regard to the right to education of children, parents/legal guardians are obligated to ensure the child gets an education; failure to do so can result in criminal prosecution (Art. 380 Preventing access to compulsory public education). Also, according to Art 33 of Law No. 61/1991 penalising the violation of public order and social standards, parents/legal guardians who fail to take "adequate measures" to prevent children under 16 from engaging in vagrancy, begging, or prostitution are liable to pay a contraventional fine (Law No. 61/1991 on contraventions applies only in cases when the deed of the guilty party does not constitute a criminal offense).

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