Surviving the Streets: Experiences of Harassment and Coping Mechanisms among Female Street Children in Harare, Zimbabwe

This paper explores the experiences of harassment and coping mechanisms among female street children (FSC) in Harare, Zimbabwe, aged 8–15 years. The paper arose out of the lack of studies that focus on the phenomenon of harassment of street children from a gender perspective. This is so because existing studies often look at the experiences of both girls and boys. At the same time, those who adopt a gender perspective, especially on sexual harassment, often tie the phenomenon to drug abuse. This study is unique in that it approaches the phenomenon from a gender angle while combining both experiences and coping mechanisms. The study draws on intersectionality theory to examine the intersecting structural factors shaping FSCs’ experiences of harassment, resilience theory to analyse their adaptive coping strategies, and African feminist perspectives to situate these experiences within locally embedded patriarchal, socio-economic, and historical contexts. Methodologically, the paper draws from qualitative methods where data were collected through in-depth interviews and document analysis. This paper's key findings are that FSCs face sexual and verbal abuse from their male counterparts, the police, and passersby. This is so because of several intersecting factors, such as gendered violence and vulnerability, class and economic marginalization, age and power relations, and the intersection of state violence and structural inequalities in Zimbabwe. The paper’s findings also highlight that even though FSC faces harassment, they are not entirely helpless because their coping mechanisms are shaped by their strengths, social networks, and behavioral adaptations.