Street-weary in Bogota. Voices of girls 3: Colombia
Ross, T.
People and the Planet 7(3): 30-31
1998
ISSN/ISBN: 0968-1655 PMID: 12321767 Document Number: 278615
In Colombia, people displaced by rural violence have crowded Bogota's slums, where inhabitants are plagued by alcoholism, drug dependency, and violence. Violence against children is epidemic in Colombia, and education, which is supposed to be free, is in reality so expensive that over a third of children fail to complete primary school. Street culture beckons children, and one agency has identified 7454 girl prostitutes in Bogota and believes there are another 1000 who have not yet been contacted. Most of these girls are from low-income families residing in inner-city slums, and many were sexually abused at an early age by a male relative. Almost all start using drugs, and more than 80% are infected with sexually transmitted diseases, including 15% who have HIV/AIDS. Even efforts to help these children can go astray, as some learn deviant behavior from fellow residents of children's homes. The biggest danger faced by girls and boys alike on the street is rape, and some children report being raped by policemen. The Renacer Foundation is working to rehabilitate children in its residential units and has achieved success in some cases. In other cases, success is slow to achieve and hard to maintain because it is difficult, if not impossible, for the children to recover from early abuse. Colombia lacks a nationwide needs assessment or primary intervention program to prevent early abuse and to help vulnerable girls. The only programs available to help the children already in trouble use outdated methods and are severely overcrowded.