EXPLOITED CHILDREN

Venezuelan street children are victims of labor exploitation. Photos were taken from a Venezuelan newspaper showing the victimization of the street children from people willing to exploit these vulnerable little ones. We can no longer show these photos on our web site due to the new laws made in Venezuela prohibiting it.

The United Nations Development Program (PNUD) anticipates that 800,000 children will be in a situation of labor exploitation in the first trimester of the year that exposes them to danger through work activities. Carlos Navarro, President of CTV, says that this dramatic situation obliges government institutions, organizations and workers to adopt the International Plan for the Eradication of Child Labor. Navarro relates that at the moment, results are favorable for the National Assembly Constituent to enlarge the constitutional mechanisms of the protection of minors as soon as women laborers take the responsibility to be the head of their family. Navarro is in favor of establishing a new constitution that gives special protection to women laborers to avoid discrimination and to guarantee work to those who are unemployed with children in order to feed their children and send them to college.

There are many problems with minors in Venezuela. One of them is single women raising children without employment. The children end up on the streets begging for food.

According to a 1998 article by Zoraido Portillo, "There is no end to poverty in sight for Venezuelans." (VHeadline.com, 1/5/00). In a world of rising expectations and steady economic growth, the country of Venezuela has experienced a reverse trend in the increasing numbers of Venezuelans falling into abject poverty. Estimates suggest that between two thirds to more than three quarters of Venezuelan citizens live in conditions of moderate to severe poverty. By 2000, Venezuela has achieved the notable position of the fourth most prolific Latin American country for poverty conditions ((VHeadline.com, 1/5/98)

Reasons cited for the increase in Venezuelan poverty include: significant deterioration in the country's economic climate; turbulent political leadership; inadequate and impoverished housing conditions; rising school dropout and illiteracy rates; and, minimally responsive social programs ( VHeadline.com., 2/10/99)

As Venezuelan poverty has increased within the last decade, the numbers of Venezuelan "street children" has mushroomed. These children had been surviving on the edge of society for awhile, but the intensified poverty conditions of the 1990's pushed them into the streets. The children live in the streets because they are abandoned or are searching for food and shelter or are fleeing abuse or are searching for an income. A shocking Venezuelan government report revealed that an estimated 30% of Venezuelan children have been victims of sexual abuse. 80% of those victims are girls and 70% of the abuse occurs in the family context. As increasing numbers of Venezuelan children reside in the streets, they become even more vulnerable to crime, disease, physical or sexual abuse, substance abuse, or death.

The dilemma of Venezuelan street children came to international attention in 1999 when Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias established a new program, "Bolivar's Children". The purpose of the new program, named for national hero Simon Bolivar, was to get children off the streets through reunification with their families or placement in alternative homes or residential facilities. The President's decree on behalf of "The Children of the Nation" has resulted in increased government investments in social services, children's educational programming, expansion of technical schools, and development of children's residential facilities. However, human service experts contend that the President's focus upon "Bolivar's Children" will require a significant investment of government funds to have any meaningful impact upon the rampant problem of Venezuelan street children. In Christ Ministries, Inc. is well positioned to become a partner with the Venezuelan government to get hundreds of "Bolivar's children" into a positive environment.