KARACHI - The number of street children is increasing alarmingly due to the sheer negligence of the authorities concerned, while the figure of these children across the country has reached to 1.2 million out of which 30,000 homeless children are in Karachi, The Nation learnt on Monday. Around 43 per cent among the total population are under 15 years of age, including approximate 48 million adults living under the poverty line earning less than one dollar a day. The Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) figured out population boom, urbanisation and poverty - vital causes for the increase in number of the street children in Pakistan. Non-implementation of child security laws is also to blame. Among other reasons are widespread child labour and poor quality of education, which let the children to come out on streets to share their familys financial burden, however, abusive environment at homes and corporal punishment in schools add to their miseries. In some cases bad company and desire for unrestricted freedom prompt them to leave homes in rural areas and low-income localities of our cities, especially in southern Punjab and parts of NWFP. According to the facts, the City District Government Karachi has produced that in Karachi alone the number of street children has crossed the figure of 25,000. Children on the streets are susceptible to all kinds of violence and easy prey for all types of abusers. Being young, poor, illiterate and defenceless, children are abused and exploited, sexually, verbally, emotionally and psychologically. Violence could range anything between harassment to pedophilia, sexual abuse and sodomy, coerced to join gangs of criminals and used as drug traffickers or turned into beggars by the beggars mafia. The police are also among the leading enemies of street children, as indiscriminate violations against children are committed with impunity because of no fear of reprisal from the law and the society. Street children have nowhere to turn for protection, emotional support and comradeship except the members of their own band in which often a bully (who himself could be a victim of physical and sexual abuse) treats the young or weaker ones as once he was treated as a child. Some limited surveys and interviews conducted by various NGOs show that an alarming 80 to 90 per cent of the street children are victims of sodomy, sexual and physical abuse not just by elders but older children within their own gangs. A majority of them is drug addicted, and the most popular and affordable of the drug is glue what these children inhale by putting it on a piece of cloth. One can see young boys sniffing this glue openly on the streets and pavements that according to one user, tingles nose and makes one slightly drowsy. The use of other drugs including hashish, and even heroin is also rampant among of these streets children. Children living on the street, start work as early as 4.00am, they beg and scavenge around rubbish dumps or industrial waste sites and take on menial jobs as cart-pushers or dishwashers working 12-15 hours a day to earn enough to buy a meal, if they are lucky. Most survive by prostituting themselves and stealing, making them vulnerable to contracting sexually transmitted diseases (STD)s such as HIV and AIDS. They are also at high risk of health problems such as tuberculosis, jaundice and kidney disorders. A study by the Pakistan Society estimates that when the population was 10,000 in Karachi 83 per cent of street children were sniffing glue between the ages of 8-19. 54 per cent left home at age 10-12. 45 per cent children living on streets are involved in crimes and 49 per cent are at high risk of HIV and AIDS. Be it economic or social factors, street children leave their homes for an uncertain future. They have no access to basic amenities such as health, education, or food. In the back alleys of Karachis bustling areas, the stench of urine pervading the whole place, children as young as five huddle in groups of 8 to 10 for warmth and security at night.