Trayectoria académica, rendimiento y expectativas

Moon et al. (2001) said that intravenous drugs use was significantly common among street children, and that 93% to 95% of them were likely to use tobacco and inject drugs. In Indonesia, Beazley (2002)reported high-risk behaviour among street girls, as they used pills, cigarettes and cheap alcohol. They administered morphine and heroin through razor cuts in their arms, mixed it with their blood and then sucked. Similarly, use of drugs among street children was rampant in Nepal, in that 95% of the respondents used glue and some were absolutely

addicted to dendrite, which they sniffed throughout the day to become high (Rai et al., 2002). Significant numbers were polydrug abusers, using more than one kind of substance such as cigarettes, glue, hashish, marijuana, tablets, pills and tidigesic (CPCS, 2007; Rai et al., 2002), including intravenous drugs (CPCS, 2007; Rai et al., 2002; Tournon, 2008).

64 Street children in Nepal were reported to have a high exposure to alcohol and drugs (CPCS, 2007; Dhital et al., 2002; Rai et al., 2002; Tournon, 2008), and injecting drugs was also practiced (CPCS, 2007; Rai et al., 2002; Southon &

Gurung, 2006). It was found that both street girls and boys used injection drugs and shared needles: 100% of street girls and 53% of street boys injected, and 60%

of boys and 33% of girls reported sharing needles (Southon & Gurung, 2006).

Also, 67% of boys and 40% of girls used alcohol (Dhital et al., 2002). Moon et al.

(2001) in San Francisco illustrated that there were no significant differences between males and females in the use of drugs and sex: their study found that 88%

of males and 74% of females had had sex while drunk, and 92% males and 89%

of females reported having sex while high.

Several studies showed that street children began to use alcohol and drugs at a very early age. Street children in Nepal started to use drugs and alcohol at the age of five, according to Dhital et al. (2002) and Ryckmans (2008). Also, CPCS (2007) suggested that street children in Nepal used hashish, alcohol and glue from the age of five. The earliest reported age for use of tablets/pills was eight years, and for intravenous drug use was 10 years; only 3% of IDUs reported using drugs before the age of 12. Usually street children started to inject drugs at an age ranging from 12 to 17 (Southon and Gurung 2006); they began to use substances at the age of 10 - 12 (Tournon, 2008).

Street children engaged in sex under the influence of drugs (CPCS, 2007; Kruger

& Richter, 2003; Moon et al., 2001; Raffaelli et al., 1993; Swart-Kruger &

Richter, 1997; Wutoh et al., 2006). Nearly half of the respondents had had sex while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, which was shown to be 43% of the boys and 49% of girls (Raffaelli et al., 1993). Similarly, 60% of the street children in South Africa had had sex under the influence of substances and alcohol(Kruger

& Richter, 2003).

65 Raffaelli et al.(1993) says that drug use is associated with unprotected sex, in that it provokes them to have sex and gives them courage to approach potential partners. Also, Tadele (2003) suggests strong associations between alcohol use and prostitution, in that substance use and drinks made street children more likely to have sex and to engage in unprotected sex. Street boys reported that they forgot to use a condom or used one improperly when they were drunk. Kruger & Richter (2003) also reported that street children practiced high-risk sexual behaviours under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and that the majority of street children were more likely to have sex and less likely to use a condom when they were high. Kruger & Richter (1997) further suggested that intoxication provoked high-risk behaviour and also made them more vulnerable to rape.

Further, the threat of HIV/STIs increases with the use of alcohol and drugs; as Anarfi (1997) noted, sexual behaviour would be reckless and sexual intercourse could take place at any time and in any place if the partners were under the influence of drugs. Similarly, Chan (2009) reported that children drinking alcohol or using drugs were more likely to have multiple sexual partners and refrain from safer sex practices because they were less likely to use condoms. Also, Southon

&Gurung (2006) stated that street children who reported having had sex while under the influence of drugs or alcohol were four times more likely to be engaged in high-risk sexual behaviours than those who had not had sex under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Therefore, alcohol and drug use plays a double role in the risk of HIV/AIDS/STIs. It not only presents the threat of HIV/STIs, but is also a risk factor for AIDS, since there is considerable evidence that alcohol and drugs weaken the immune system, thereby increasing the susceptibility to infection and diseases (Corwin, undated). Once infected, substance abusers have a higher vulnerability to virus progression (Corwin, undated), which in turn causes AIDS to flare up faster. Also, intravenous drugs play a double role in the danger of acquiring HIV/STIs, both in the effects on behaviour, as with alcohol and other drugs stated above, and in transmitting HIV directly through sharing syringes.

66 The extent of injection drug use among street children was not always common and sometimes not even reported, but they were still exposed to a high risk

through their high-risk sexual behaviour in practicing unprotected penetrative sex, regardless of their injection drug-using behaviour (Kruger & Richter, 2003;

Tadele, 2003). This was supported by the statistical data, which illustrated high-risk sexual behaviour among 172 street children, where none of the respondents were acquainted with intravenous drugs (Riihiner, Holmgren, Inglesi, &

Ommundsen, 1994).