Community Runaway

642 Words2 Pages

Giving Back to the Community According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the common ages for runaways are from 15 to 17. Studies have shown that one in seven young people between the ages of 10-18 will run away, and 75 percent of those runaways are female. Between 6 and 22 percent of those runaways are pregnant homeless girls. Another 20 to 40 percent of those youth identify as LGBTQ. The National Runaway Safeline reported in 2015 that family crisis, such as domestic violence and substance abuse can lead to runaways. Many youth run away due to problems in their household, such as abuse and parental neglect. In some cases, youth are asked to leave their home because their family is unable to provide for their mental health or disability needs. Youth are more likely to become homeless if they have gone through the foster care system. …show more content…

Teens can be disowned or shamed for this and end up running away to hide it from their parents. Additionally, some teens run away from home because of repercussions they may suffer for revealing their sexual identity such as being gay or transexual. 47% of runaway youth report problems between them and a parent at home, and over 50% reported being neglected. 80% of runaway girls reported being sexually abused which may make sense as to my there are more girl runaways than boys. 43% of all runaways (boys and girls) reported physical abuse. Runaway children are at high risk of endangerment, over 70% to be specific. 21% of youth have traded sex for money, food, or shelter; another 32% of youth have attempted suicide at some point in their

Open Document