In this report, Retrak examines the situation of girls living on the streets in Kampala, Uganda and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and provides recommendations for necessary development programs such scaling up services and building new facilities for street girls. The research focused on gaining a deeper understanding of the situation for girls on the streets of these two cities, and guiding Retrak and other street children practitioners on the methods and programs that would best meet their needs.
The research in both locations adopted a qualitative method as primary data was received directly from street children and key informants working with street children in government organizations and NGOs. Secondary data was taken from published studies and reports. The study reports a rough estimate of 10,000 street children in both capital cities, of whom 25% or 2,500 are girls. Girls are less visible on streets because they are frequently employed to do housework or sell food; others hideaway or are involved in commercial sex work. Street girls are more vulnerable to violence and abuse, especially sexual abuse and rape. Street boys and community members take advantage of street girls leading to many of them being pregnant and contracting HIV/AIDS and other STIs. These girls will frequently internalize the violence and trauma, which results in victimization, low self-esteem and self-confidence, making it harder for them to survive and care for themselves.
The report concludes that it is important to develop services that meet the specific needs of street girls. Although some nonprofit organizations are providing basic services to street girls, it is reaching only 30% of the populations, leaving thousands of girls without support. Scaling up service provision along with financial support for these programs are the next steps. Some suggested programs and services point to engaging in more outreach activities that go beyond street visits in order to find hidden girls, prioritizing building shelters for girls, providing wash stations to protect the girls’ safety and self-esteem, including topics of sexual abuse, early mother hood and involvement in commercial sex work in counseling sessions, and giving health education on reproductive health and HIV prevention and care. Furthermore, adequate child care for mothers, family and community integration programs to reduce stigma along with vocational training programs sensitive to income comparison with commercial sex work were also recommended suggestions.
