Albania Begging for Change: a new set of publications on forced child begging

25 Apr 2009 |

This report and tools from Anti-Slavery International are based on research conducted in Albania and Greece, India and Senegal, and looks at the phenomenon of forced child begging both in its local specifics and global commonalities. Forced child begging involves forcing boys and girls to beg through physical or psychological coercion. It falls into the category of forced labour as it is “work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily.”

Forced child begging offers an important focus for the struggle for children’s rights in that it represents one of the most extreme, yet troublingly commonplace, forms of exploitation of children in the world today. It is also an indicator of a general failure of states to protect their children.

This report follows eight months of work with partner non-governmental organisations (NGOs). In Albania and Greece: Terre des hommes Delegation in Albania a nd their partner agencies Association for the Social Support of Youth (ARSIS, Greece) and Children of the World and of Albania (FBSH, Albania). All of them are members or associated member of BKTF coalition.

Recommendations:

1. Governments must ensure that adequate legislation is in place to protect children who are forced to beg, and that these laws are enforced.
2. Children, who are suffering from extreme violence or exploitation through begging, must be removed immediately from harm and placed in a safe and caring environment with appropriate educational and rehabilitative support.
3. Governments should prioritise investing in quality, affordable and accessible education for all. This would go a long way towards preventing forced child begging and other forms of exploitation, rehabilitating those already involved, as well as helping all children in poverty to improve their lives and future prospects.
4. Prevention work among families and local communities what should form a central plank of all interventions. Families will need practical support to help remove poverty as a major factor in decisions to send their children away or out to beg. Such interventions must include awareness raising about the immediate and long-term risks to children who are forced to beg, and the rights of children to a childhood and to an education.
5. Far too often, all child beggars are treated as a problem by authorities. At worst, they are beaten and mistreated by the very authorities who should be there to protect them. A range of training programmes particularly for police and social workers are needed to help them to respond sensitively to the particular needs of these children.
6. Raise awareness among the general public that the money they give may be handed over to others who are exploiting these boys and girls. The public should be offered alternative ways to help those in need if strategies are in place to protect children and their families from the effects of losing this income.
7. Many shared experiences and causes mean that a number of strategies to address forced child begging should be approached within the wider context of child begging. Efforts to improve the lives of children begging, including support with health care and education, can also offer ways to help identify and remove from harm children who are forced to beg by violent or other coercive means. [VT]

• Read Begging for Change here

• Read Forced child begging: A toolkit for researchers here
• Read Forced Child Begging: Tools for an introductory training course on qualitative research methods here
• Visit Anti-Slavery International website and download documents here