A/HRC/19/35 be treated as passive objects of welfare rather than as rights holders, while children seen as “delinquents” are more likely to be subjected to violence and to end up in the penal system. 15. In reality, the characteristics of children on the streets are very diverse. While in many cities, children in street situations are predominantly male, in some places, girls outnumber boys (a 2005 study in Mali and Ghana found that in Bamako, the large majority of children counted were boys, while in Accra, three out of four were girls). Similarly, some children are born on the streets but others move onto the streets only in adolescence. Discrimination around ethnicity also shapes risks faced by and opportunities open to children. In some Latin American countries, for example, a disproportionate number of indigenous children are in street situations. Experiences of street work, sexual activity and substance use are similarly diverse, reflecting government policies, local cultures, formal and illegal market realities, social transformations and inequalities, as well as children‟s characteristics and experiences. C. Causes leading children to the street 16. Traditionally, economic poverty and family breakdown or abandonment of children were held in combination to be the main causes of street children. However, conventional wisdom has been challenged in both respects. First, while poverty can be an important pathway to the street, the great majority of children who live in economic poverty do not end up in the streets. Second, while many families of children in street situations have been identified as fragile, violent or unstable, orphaned or abandoned children are more unusual. Most families of street-connected children have experienced persistent discrimination, poverty and social exclusion within societies where inequalities are high and/or growing. Few have received economic support, child-care assistance, help to ensure that absent parents assume responsibilities towards their children, access to mental health or drug rehabilitation services. 17. Overwhelmed families often struggle to cope in overcrowded, inadequate housing, with increased health risks and poor access to basic services, sometimes migrating or moving between poor neighbourhoods. Unstable, often violent circumstances can weaken children‟s family connections as well as their access to adequate schooling, educational performance, friendships and other relationships, weakening their connections to school and community. 18. Other pathways to the street include HIV/AIDS, harmful practices such as early and forced marriages, natural disasters, war and internal displacement. These, alongside experiences of violence, abuse and neglect at home, can be understood within a framework of significant income inequalities, a poor socio-cultural context and inadequate social protection that together deprive children of many of their rights. 19. These are often called “push” factors, that is, causes that encourage or force children onto the street. There are also “pull” factors that can help make the street attractive to a child – although these play a much smaller role in leading children into street situations. Pull factors include spatial freedom, financial independence, adventure, city glamour and street-based friendships or gangs. These can develop over time into strong street connections that, combined with social stigma and prejudices, make it difficult for children to find desirable options off the street. Each child has a unique story of push and pull factors that led him or her, sometimes repeatedly and in different ways, to develop street connections. 6