Abstract:
Street children are a reality in many urban centers in developing countries and have remained a major impediment to their
social and economic development. While on the streets, HIV/AIDS infection among street children continues to be a significant
challenge despite the progress that has been made in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment at the national level. As they pursue their
livelihoods on the streets, street children embrace a street culture that habitually influences sexual risky behaviors. The circumstances in
which street children live and the challenges to which they are subjected to, increase their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and predispose the
public to more danger. This can be explained partly by the drives of economics of survival, little or absence of information about the
dangers of contracting HIV/AIDS and the risks associated with it, inadequate health facilities attending to street children and
inadequate awareness programmes targeting the street children community. This paper argues that for street children to enhance their
survival mechanisms on the streets, sexual activities among themselves and/with outsiders on the streets are rife and not safe. Moreover,
the attitude of hopelessness about their lives encourages them to engage in unprotected sex, while little information and low level of
awareness limits street children from adopting HIV/AIDS preventive measures. Female street children who are also HIV positive engage
in sex with unsuspected men who eventually contract the disease. The paper concludes by recommending that those interventions
working with street children if they want to succeed in their activities, they should have a holistic approach and also be based on a
scientific assessment on the circumstances the street children find themselves in as well as their felt needs. There is also need for street
educators and/or counselors to communicate prevention messages to all categories of street children at the same time impart in them a
sense that life is worth safeguarding.
