Child Exploitation Under the Guise of Begging and Busking: Neglect or Coercion

Abstract

The phenomenon of child exploitation in urban public spaces has developed into a serious humanitarian and legal crisis that has sparked debate about its root causes, whether it stems from economic pressures within families or from structural neglect by law enforcement authorities and urban communities. This study uses an empirical juridical approach with descriptive analytical specifications to deeply examine the reality of law enforcement. Primary data were obtained through indepth interviews with police and social services officials and field observations, while secondary data were collected through studies of regulatory documents and related scientific journals. The results and discussion indicate that child exploitation under the guise of begging and busking is a manifestation of the dialectic between structural poverty and enduring multidimensional neglect resulting from disorientation of family moral values, the penetration of organized syndicates, and the apathy of urban communities that normalize the practice. This social gap is widened by the still-fragile enforcement of criminal law, which is often trapped in moral dilemmas and procedural obstacles to proof within the family, while local government handling tends to be repressive and incidental, only moving the location of operations without addressing the root of the problem. Therefore, this study concludes that comprehensively addressing exploitation requires the reconstruction of integrative public policies through the formation of a cross-sectoral task force, where progressive criminal law enforcement against syndicates must go hand in hand with the restoration of the family's economic function based on restorative justice and the fulfillment of children's constitutional rights to protection and education on an ongoing basis.