The overall situation of female street children (11-18 years) engaged in commercial sex work in Dire Dawa - Ethiopia : survey in case study with special reference to child prostitution

THE OVERALL SITUATION OF FEMALE STREET CHILDREN (11 18 YEARS) ENGAGED IN COMMERCIAL SEX WORK IN DIRE DAWA - ETHIOPIA (SURVEY IN CASE STUDY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO CHILD PROSTITUTION) By MELKAM LENGEREH MEKURIA 2004 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY IN SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF OSLO FACULTY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION ABSTRACT Prostitution in general and child prostitution in particular as a major social problem is a common phenomenon for many countries in the world. Different causes can propel children towards street life and street activities. One of the street activities available for female street children is prostitution. As one of the underdeveloped and poor countries, economic problem in Ethiopia is the major cause for child prostitution. The strong relationship between poverty and prostitution is stated as, as long as there is poverty, prostitution will exist. As long as the root is wet, the tree survives (Gedu, 1995, p. 12). Though poverty is the major reason for child prostitution, it can not be the only cause. For this reason, the study was attempted to look into the overall situation of female street children (11 18) engaged in prostitution in Dire Dawa town Ethiopia. In conducting this descriptive research, the two main objectives were; identifying if street child prostitutes have their own special educational needs or not and to expose their overall situation to the rest of the society. Their overall situation in this study is all about their general background, their current situations and the possible consequences of child prostitution. In studying the overall situation of street child prostitutes, triangulation of methods as well as designs were implemented. In this regard, the combination of two designs (survey and case study) was used. The different methods implemented in the study are interview, questionnaire, focus group discussion and informal observation. Instruments such as interview guide, questionnaires, focus group discussion guide and log book were used for data collection. The number of informants participated in the study were 62 street child prostitutes, 2 key persons from the society and an expert from women s affair office. The findings of the study revealed that poverty is the major cause for street child prostitution. However, it is not the only cause of street child prostitution as other causes were identified in the study. It is also shown in the study that children engaged in street prostitution have their own special educational needs as they all are not enrolled to school currently. Moreover, the different consequences of child prostitution were addressed in the study. Finally, based on the findings of the study, it is concluded that, street child prostitution in Dire Dawa is survival prostitution. At the end, recommendations which are directed towards the society, the family, government and NGOs are made so that the problem of child prostitution can at least be curtailed if not eliminated