Agnes Winarti, Jakarta – More than half of the street children living in shelters in Central Jakarta have been sexually abused and one third take addictive substances, including cigarettes, glue, alcohol and opium, a study has found.

The research, which surveyed the emotional and behavioral problems and associated factors of street children living in five shelters in Central Jakarta, was conducted by a team of undergraduate students of the medical faculty at the University of Indonesia.

The research is among the winners of eight researches submitted to contest the faculty's Liga Medika Sains annual competition.

"This research is based on our concern that there are at least 170,000 street children in 12 major cities nationwide, 10,373 of whom are in the capital," one of the students, Ary Indriana Savitri, told a conference on Thursday.

She was quoting data from the 1999 Asian Development Bank report on street children in the world.

"These street children are prone to discriminations, exploitation by adults and addictive substances, all of which harm their mental health and lead to emotional and behavioral problems," she added.

Of 85 street children registered at the five shelters, 60 percent have been sexually abused, and 35.5 percent use addictive substances, especially cigarettes and glue.

Examples of sexual abuses included the children being forced to watch porn movies, show their genitals, touch other people's genitals and have objects inserted into their genitals.

The research concluded that sexual abuse and addiction to harmful substances were the main causes of the children's behavioral and emotional problems.

The research was conducted between May and June by a team of six undergraduates: Natasha Pangestu, Ary Indriana Savitri, Fatimah Saidah, Yohanes Handoko, Nia Novianti Siregar and Youdiil Ophinni.

The study found that 10.6 percent of the street children, mostly boys between 10 and 16 years old, are emotionally disturbed, 28.2 percent are behaviorally disturbed, 11.8 percent experience peer-related problems and 15.3 percent experience a combination of the these problems.

Symptoms of the children's emotional disorders included anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, cowardice and pessimism. Behavioral problems often lead to anger, lying, disobedience, cheating and fighting.

Peer problems included having no friends, being a loner, being regularly teased and mocked by others.

The research was conducted using a series of questionnaires given to the street children at the five shelters: Dian Mitra, Gema Nusantara, Pelita, Kesuma Jaya and Karya Putra Indonesia Mandiri.

Although most of the children worked the streets as hawkers and musicians at the time of the research, more than 91 percent of them were found to still have parents.

Emotional and behavioral problems were more common among children aged between 14 and 16 compared to those aged between 10 and 13.

"The older the child is, the longer he has been negatively exposed on the streets," said Ary, adding that the children spent more than eight hours a day, and up to three days a week on the streets.

The research also showed that emotional and behavioral problems were also influenced by the amount of time the children spent working on the streets.

The research suggested the government pass a law limiting the time street children are allowed to work on the streets and offer educational activities to increase their quality of life.