Unit 7

Question 1

International community defines child soldier

Answer 1

“any person under the age who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to cooks, porters, messengers, and those accompany such groups, other than purely as family members’.

Question 2

Problem with defining child soldier:

Answer 2

1) Childhood is culturally constructed and varies across societies;
2) In many non-Western societies a person may be regarded as an adult once certain ceremonies and rite of passage have been done;
3) Girl child becomes an adult when with her marriage and young man after the death of his father.
4) Many societies regard children as competent ‘young adult’
5) Military participation is conceptualized as part of becoming an adult and under-18year olds are
encouraged to take part in military activities.
6) Implications for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programmes

Question 3

Why children become soldiers

Answer 3

1) Forced recruitment
2) Family considerations- push and pull factors
3) Hopes of earning money
4) Power, glamour and excitement
5) Out of disaffection with a political, social, economic systems that have failed them
6) Lack of educational opportunities
7) Ideology and political socialisation exert strong influence over youth’s decision to join armed forces

Question 3

Recruitment & criminal responsibility

Answer 3

1)Under- 18 combatants play an active and critical role in political and military
movements, with little direct coercion from adults.
▪ Voluntary factor can serve as a window into young people’s underlying
concerns, grievances, needs and aspirations

Question 4

Girl’s initiation into armed conflict: Recruitment

Answer 4

1) Voluntary recruitment: religious or political beliefs, to obtain food, shelter, medicine and to seek revenge
2) Join as they perceive the armed group as providing protection from violence or protection from unwanted marriages & sexual abuse

Question 5

Role allocation

Answer 5

1) Girls required to perform an array of tasks to support the activities of the armed group
2) Duties often varied according to their age, physical strength, and the circumstances of the armed group, but tended to involve domestic work, sexual slavery, and combat activities.
3) Girls’ roles were multiple and fluid, most often carrying out a variety of roles and tasks simultaneously.
4) Girls are often the last members to be released by rebel groups, demonstrating their high value and worth
5) Domestic & supporting work

Question 6

Training

Answer 6

1) Involved in some form of military training to support the armed group.
2) Support the everyday functioning of armed groups that included pillaging techniques following an attack
3) Loading and dismounting arms, defence techniques, accompanying male soldiers, sabotage, midwifery, welcoming, rousing, singing and
dancing for special events.

Question 7

Combat activities

Answer 7

1) ombat activities were a significant part of the duties of many of girls associated with fighting forces.
2) Girls forced to participate in combat only in situations where there was a lack of military power on the side of the fighting forces.
3) A minority of girls also gained powerful positions as leaders and commanders of other combatants

Question 8

Problems with re-integration

Answer 8

1) Severe physical health issues
2) Gender female reproductive health issues(abortion)
3) Limited reproductive health services for women
4) Mental Health
5) Limited Mental Health services
6) Exclusion from community and DDR programs
7) Stigmatisation
8) Limited access to Education

Question 8

Victimization by girls