Description

The homeless children go to the train stations in the morning and night to beg for money and food. Some of these places are dangerous to be in the night.

Transcript

The Street Children of St. Petersburg Narrator: Most street children in St. Petersburg hang around the metro stations to beg from passing pedestrians. But these are some of the most dangerous places in the city and a magnet for criminals. Max: We come here every morning, day or night. We come here to these kiosks and we start begging. Sometimes we ask for change and sometimes we ask for food. Yuriy: Sometimes we have to collect empty bottles, whenever we can find them. And then we sell them. From six or seven in the afternoon we try to get money for the computer games. We get back from the computer club at about eight in the morning, and sleep until late--five or six in the afternoon. Narrator: Computer clubs have sprung up throughout Russia. Frequented by young boys and teenagers, they stay open all night -- a haven for paedophiles. And yet sometimes Yuriy and Max feel safer staying here at night than sleeping in their attic. There they've already been threatened by men several times. Max: For me, the most dangerous thing about living on the street-- in attics and cellars is paedophiles. That's the most dangerous thing. I know lots of people who have been abused. Yuriy: If someone I don't know approaches me, it is really scary. That’s the most frightening thing. Like that man with a knife last night, he was really dangerous. I was petrified. We had to run away from him to lose him. Max: To tell you the truth, I know people who are working as prostitutes to find money for themselves and their families. For instance Masha, her mother drinks. She hasn't got a father. And she has a small brother to look after. Narrator: In the last few years, the St Petersburg authorities have set up a force of special, child-friendly police to help and protect the growing number of children who live on the streets. Yuriy: I personally know three good policemen. I can't stand the rest of them. Max: We run away from them, of course, and try to hide from them, because if they pick us up, they take us to the police's young offenders unit. And then the pile of papers grows and grows and grows. And then--oops--right, boy, it's your turn! And then it's-- Yuriy: Special schools. Max: Reform school, shelters, orphanage and then possibly prison depending on how old you are and what you've done. Narrator: New teams of social workers have also been introduced but they are very few and like the police they're not always trusted by the children they are supposed to be helping. The solutions they offer like state shelters are often not appreciated. Max: There are lots of social workers and people who pretend to be social workers. I don't trust them. Some of them can work for a rapist, or maniacs. Even if they are good people, what can the social workers offer anyway--special school, shelter, or a flat where you can live with a family? But it's dangerous, and we are afraid to go there. Nataliya Evdokimova: Our children's homes are outdated -- big, prison like institutions that house 150 to 200 people. The children live in huge rooms like army barracks, and there is no personal attention to anyone. Children of course run away from this life, partly because of the violent behavior of other children, the older children, or the supervisors. Narrator: Vera Smirnova works for the NGO “The Protection of Children”. She and her social work colleagues visit the children on the streets several times a week to offer their help. Vera Smirnova: Social work in the modern meaning like it has never existed in the Soviet Union, and that's why our methods of work and our approaches had to be changed. I think that we need more social workers now. Sometimes we need to visit these children several times, many times because some of them don't feel they can rely upon adults. And we need to have many contacts with them before they start to believe us. There are about 30 different kinds of job children are doing, children usually start collecting bottles or begging when they come to the street but very soon, they are getting involved in criminal activities, involved in prostitution, they start using drugs, drinking, smoking. Narrator: Many children turn to glue sniffing as a way of coping. They say it also helps to reduce hunger. But prolonged use of glue can cause brain damage, and affects both their emotions and intellect. Max: You become funny, you hallucinate. First of all, you feel weak and then the other way round, you feel good! You can do whatever you like, hallucinate, like you think of something you want and then it feels as if you've got it.