The Effectiveness of Preventive Measures in Addressing the Phenomenon of Street Children

Abstract

The phenomenon of street children constitutes one of the most complex socio-legal challenges confronting contemporary societies, particularly in states afflicted by the repercussions of armed conflicts and economic instability such as Iraq, where intertwined social, economic, and psychological factors drive children into patterns of begging and vagrancy. This necessitates legislative intervention that transcends the traditional punitive approach toward a comprehensive preventive framework. This study seeks to assess the effectiveness of the preventive measures adopted by the Iraqi legislator in the Penal Code No. 111 of 1969 (as amended) and the Juvenile Welfare Act No. 76 of 1983 (as amended) in addressing begging and vagrancy as the most prominent manifestations of the street children phenomenon, while conducting a comparative analysis with analogous Arab legislation, notably Egyptian and Jordanian law, in addition to examining international obligations arising from the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989, The study concludes that the Iraqi legislative framework suffers from structural deficiencies in regulating preventive measures designated for street children, as the emphasis remains on the penal dimension without adequate attention to social and rehabilitative measures, thereby necessitating a reformulation of the relevant provisions in conformity with international standards and in observance of the best interests of the child.