Mexican Advocates Seek to Advance Rights of Street Children
- Denise Mattson based on English translation by
- Apr 25, 2016
- 3 min read
Mexico is a paradise of resorts and sandy beaches to tourists, yet 60 million of its residents live in poverty—including 80 percent of its indigenous population. Inadequate and unaffordable housing caused by organized crime, the drug trade and war all have contributed to their poverty, according to researcher Juan Martín Pérez García, director of the Network for the Rights of Children in Mexico.
Pérez García says Mexican public policy often does not address inequality or recognize the social issues that contribute to homelessness. Many people say homeless people “are crazy, are bums, and are not interested in getting out of their current situation and having a productive life,” he explains.
At the prompting and coordination of the London-based Consortium for Street Children—a worldwide advocacy group—the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is in the process of creating a General Comment on Children in Street Situations. The Consortium’s website reports that the General Comment “will be the first piece of international law on street children and a powerful tool for advocates to use to push for street children’s rights.”
Pérez García is optimistic about its potential impact. “This could represent an opportunity for homeless children around the world to regain a voice in public policy on a global scale.”
He adds that it is important for Mexicans to frame child homelessness in a human rights context. “If the (Mexican) state remains fragile, and equality is not achieved, we will not have a true democracy and consequently, justice will not exist.”
While Mexico is a wealthy country, it does not spend funds to combat homelessness, he says. “There are very few social programs, and all of them focus on assistance. It basically provides support but does not build capacity so people can leave the streets.”
The government also removes children from homeless mothers, according to Pérez García. “The government says they have no moral or financial capacity to take care of the kids. Unfortunately our country has many laws that support the persecution of people living in the
streets.”
People have been living in public spaces in Mexico for the last 70 years, and their demographics have changed over time. It was mainly adults on the streets in the 1950s, but saw an increase of teens in the 1960s, followed by an explosion of children in the 1980s. By the 1990s, more women began to appear, and by 2000, the population was characterized by entire families living under bridges and on public property.
Pérez García says these groups have been excluded historically. “We are seeing four generations of people living in the streets. We are now providing services to the grandchildren of people we assisted decades ago.”
This month, Pérez García partnered with the Consortium for Street Children to host a regional consultation in Mexico City with street-connected youth leading up to the General Comment on Children in Street Situations. The consultation concluded at an international forum with the Mexican Senate to explore solutions for people experiencing street homelessness and for children in street situations.
In a presentation he delivered at an international conference of researchers, practitioners and policy experts working to address homelessness held by the Institute of Global Homelessness in June 2015, Pérez García was hopeful that solutions were emerging in Mexico beyond the stop gap measures social organizations have traditionally offered.
In 2014, such organizations were successful in getting a new law passed to establish a national system of child protection that includes universal policies for social development and establishes emergency services. “This will take about five years to implement, but it’s a step in the right direction,” Pérez García says.
His network’s main goal is to empower people living on the street to determine their futures through participative citizenship “in all that it entails, having self-awareness, effective communication, thoughtfulness, empathy, the ability to make decisions and solve problems, being able to manage stress,” he says.
For more information, contact at Pérez García at @juanmartinmx or direccion@derechosinfancia.org.mx.
Next in this series: Youth Homelessness in Canada.
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