[[File:Turk and Russian, Greek and Jew are represented in this group of half a dozen little street gamins Two of them are the proud possessors of tops and pieces of string to spin them with. LCCN2010650581 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Multiethnic group of "street gamins" in [[Constantinople]], 1921|upright=1.3]]
'''Street children''' are [[poverty|poor]] or [[homelessness|homeless]] [[child]]ren who live on the [[street]]s of a city, town, or village. Homeless youth are often called '''street kids''', '''street children''', or '''urchins'''; the definition of street children is contested, but many practitioners and policymakers use [[UNICEF]]'s concept of boys and girls, aged [[minor (law)|under 18 years]], for whom "the street" (including unoccupied [[dwelling]]s and wasteland) has become home and/or their source of livelihood, and who are inadequately protected or supervised.<ref>{{cite web |title=State of the World's Street Children: Violence Report |url=http://www.slideshare.net/Consortium/state-of-the-worlds-street-children-violence-report |work=SlideShare |publisher=SlideShare Inc |access-date=30 November 2012 |author=Sarah Thomas de Benitez |date=23 February 2009}}</ref> Street girls are sometimes called '''gamines''',<ref name="gamine; Reference.com">{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gamine?s=t|title=Gamine | Define Gamine at Dictionary.com|publisher=[[Reference.com]]|access-date=5 October 2014|quote=noun 1. a neglected girl who is left to run about the streets. [...]}}</ref><ref name="gamine; Merriam-Webster">{{cite dictionary|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gamine|title=Gamine - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary|dictionary=[[Merriam-Webster]]|access-date=5 October 2014|quote=Full Definition of GAMINE 1: a girl who hangs around on the streets [...]}}</ref><ref name="gamine; Oxford Dictionaries Online">{{cite dictionary|url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/gamine|title=gamine: definition of gamine in Oxford dictionary (British & World English)|dictionary=[[Oxford English Dictionary|Oxford Dictionaries Online]]|access-date=5 October 2014|quote=[...] 2 (dated) A female street urchin: 'I left school and fell in with some gamines'}}</ref> a term that is also used for [[Colombia]]n street children of either sex.<ref name="Generation Under Fire">{{harvp|Kirk|1994}}</ref><ref name="SOS Children's Villages">{{cite web|url=http://www.street-children.org.uk/south-america/colombia|title=Street Children in Colombia|publisher=[[SOS Children's Villages]]|access-date=2 October 2014}}</ref><ref name="NIAAA 2004-08-23">{{cite web|url=http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/Social/Module10DHomeless/Module10D.pdf|title=Alcohol Use Disorders in Homeless Populations|date=23 August 2004|publisher=[[National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism|NIAAA]]|page=9|access-date=2 October 2014}}</ref>
Some street children, notably in more developed nations, are part of a subcategory called [[child abandonment|thrown-away children]], consisting of children who have been forced to leave home. Thrown-away children are more likely to come from [[single parent|single-parent]] homes.<ref>{{harvp|Flowers|2010|pp=20–21}}</ref> Street children are often subject to abuse, [[neglect]], [[exploitation of labour|exploitation]], or, in extreme cases, murder by "clean-up squads" that have been hired by local businesses or police.<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=http://yapi.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/report-street-children.pdf|title=Victimization and Abuse of Street Children Worldwide|year=1997|publisher=Yapi|work=Youth Advocate Program International Resource Paper|access-date=30 November 2012|first=Evgenia |last=Berezina}}</ref>
