92.5% of street children suffer sexual abuse

According to a recent study, almost all street children aged 8 to 18 in Ho Chi Minh City have abused addictive substances and suffered from sexual abuse.

The alarming figure was released at a seminar titled “Calling for actions for children abusing addictive substances and suffering sexual violation” in Hanoi on Monday.

The seminar was conducted by the Management and Sustainable Development Research Center and its partner, NGO Fotana, a Denmak-based non-profit organization that is concerned with the impact of chemical dependency, abuse, and addiction on individuals, their relatives and society.

According to the study’s results, 92.5 percent of the surveyed street children have been sexually abused and 98.3 percent have used one or more addictive substances including heroin, methamphetamine, ecstasy, marijuana, tobacco, and liquor.

Many of these street children tried addictive substances when they were only 12 or 13 years old.

The reasons street children use addictive substances are many, including easy access to the  substances, pressure from others, or the desire to drown their sorrows, experts said.   

As far as sexual abuse is concerned, it is harmful to children not only physically but also psychologically, and its affects can last a lifetime.

For many victims of sexual abuse, the repression of unshared feelings and emotions often lead to negative and dangerous acts such as physical injury and suicide attempts.

The city now has about 22,000 street children, most of whom come from other cities and provinces to earn money in Ho Chi Minh. Many of these children are associated with social evils such as prostitution or drug trading and trafficking.

Difficult living conditions and ignorance regarding prevention have made many street children victims of sexual abuse, experts said at the seminar.