Learn the facts about child soldiers.
What is the definition of a child soldier?
The official term is “a child associated with an armed force or armed group.” It refers to any boy or girl under age 18 who is recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity. It does not refer only to a child who is taking a direct part in hostilities.[iii]
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How many child soldiers are there?
It’s impossible to know how many child soldiers are associated with armed conflicts around the world. Between 2005 and 2018, a total of 65,081 children are verified to have been recruited and used by armed forces and groups, but actual numbers are likely much higher – as many as hundreds of thousands of children.[iv]
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What are child soldiers forced to do?
Child soldiers are boys and girls who are often abducted and used as combatants, forced to act as human shields or conduct executions, deployed as suicide bombers, or used to make or transport explosives. Other roles include working as guards, spies, messengers, porters, cooks or domestic servants.
Many children, more often girls, are subjected to sexual abuse and exploitation, while some are forced intochild marriageas “brides” for fighters. Girls forcibly married in this way are frequently abandoned, divorced or left widowed, if they’re not killed or maimed themselves.
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Why are children recruited and used as child soldiers?
Throughout history, children have been recruited, often by force, and used in military campaigns. Child soldiers may be considered cheaper to recruit and train, more vulnerable toexploitation and abuse, or strategically useful – such as the girls used for the horrific suicide attacks by Boko Haram in Nigeria.
Armed groups often use gendered recruitment tactics, including a hyper-masculine ideology and imagery that equates power with violence, promises of sexual rewards and “wives” for soldiers.
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What happens to former child soldiers?
While every child’s story is different, children formerly associated with armed forces or groups face many immediate and lifelong challenges. Those who survive have most certainly been robbed of their innocence, their childhoods.
These children may suffer from physical, developmental andmental health conditions. Many have missed out on years of education, severely compromising their futures. And social reintegration might be difficult, as many have lost ties to family and community.
Girls in particular are likely to be stigmatized and even rejected by their community if it’s known that they‘ve been used by an armed force or armed group – and the rejection of their babies and children may be even more severe. Boys returning from conflict also risk rejection by their communities of origin.
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