Boys who work on the streets of Iraq are exposed to more traumatic events such as torture than schoolboys of the same age.

Abstract

Information is scarce about the issues faced by street working. This study examined traumatic events experienced by boys working on the streets of Iraq compared to schoolboys. We compared 100 street working boys aged 8-16 years who were attending a drop-in centre for street working children in Duhok City, Kurdistan, Iraq, in 2004/2005 with 100 age-matched schoolboys randomly selected from six local schools. The instruments that were used included the Harvard-Uppsala Trauma Questionnaire for Children. Most of the street working boys were involved in activities such as selling goods or shoe shining, and some were stealing or begging. None were involved in drugs or prostitution. The street working boys showed a significantly higher rate of traumatic events than the control group (96% versus 64%, p < 0.001) and higher rates of moderate to severe trauma levels (78% versus 25%, p < 0.001). A varying degree of association was found for reporting different traumatic events. The largest effect size was found for torture, with an odds ratio of 28.4, and the smallest for maltreatment or assault (2.7). Street working boys in Iraq faced a higher risk of exposure to traumatic events than age-matched schoolboys.