Most live in groups with other children, resorting to prostitution and petty theft to survive. Many become addicted to drugs ranging from heroin to glue. Glue-sniffing can cause kidney failure, irreversible brain damage and death. Raised in violence, they may go on to repeat it. Ex-soldiers, for whom violence has become normal, join police forces and are ordered to rid the streets of 'delinquents'.
Police brutality is well documented in many countries, especially Latin America.
Around one million children are drawn into the sex trade each year, either to support themselves or to aid their impoverished families. Sex tourism has become a multi-billion dollar global market. If the children are not killed, they are left with physical and psychological scars which stay with them for life. The future - The very existence of street children indicates political torpor. Yet thousands continue to die every year.