Children in Armed Conflict: Girl Soldiers
Introduction
Girl Soldiers represent a particularly vulnerable group identified through human security theory due to issues of gender and their circumstances within society. Very little work exists on how human security could provide suffering girls with relief in intra-state conflict, while the uniquely gendered element of their suffering is easily overlooked by traditional security.
Girl soldiers make up 40% of the total number of child soldiers in active conflicts taking place in the world today. Girls suffer in particular at the hands of vicious warlords who exploit them sexually and physically, creating a gender component to the issue of girl soldiers. Young girls are also among the most vulnerable in poor societies and are given less opportunity to succeed next to their male counterparts. Girl soldiers have been reported joining armed groups to escape enforced marriage or domestic servitude forced upon them by social constrictions or family members. Equally they try removing themselves from situations of domestic violence, exploitation and abuse (www.child-soldiers.org/childsoldiers/why-children-join), Little or no theory has been attached to the security or gender aspect of the girl soldier’s issue. Mary Jane Fox (2004: 465) argues;
‘Gender and security literature has also tended to over look girl soldiers, and there are limitations on applying gender theory to the plight of recruited girls. Although the subject of girl soldiers is difficult to locate within traditional state military security or social security discussions, it appears to fall squarely within the human security approach’
Girls join armed groups for many of the same reasons as boys but there remains a gender element in the factors that pressure them into seeking protection. Human Security needs to identify girls as being at particular risk of exploitation in intra-state conflict, providing the right mechanisms for dealing with conflict and post conflict rebuilding.
Special Circumstances for Girl Soldiers
Increasingly girl soldiers have been observed in armed conflicts involving minors in combat zones. This is not due to a sudden increase of their numbers but a gender oversight in the monitoring of the situation, this lapse is based on the ‘myth that girls do not or cannot fight, and assumptions that girls found within non-state armed groups are not necessarily military support and instead belong within the ambiguous group of camp follower’ (Brett. 2003: 2). Mary-Jane Fox (2004: 465) further argues that girl soldiers have many aspects of recruitment that are similar to boys, but there is also a number of unique reasons specific to their gender. This makes the phenomenon ‘distinctively gendered’. Domestic exploitation or abuse is often put forward as the primary reason girls volunteer to join armed groups, this can involve sexual or physical abuse from other family members. A girl soldier from Columbia explains;
“One of my mother’s men tried to abuse me when I was younger. He tried to abuse me and because I didn’t let him he got angry. He used to fight with my mum and he used to fight with me.....so I didn’t want to live with my mum anymore” (Keairns: 2002).
Very little literature exists that deals with the topic of girl soldiers, even feminist literature rarely analyses the problem. Feminist literature is guilty of dealing with ‘women’ and excluding the threats that girls face and the uniquely gendered aspect of the recruitment of girl soldiers. A girl soldier is a unique problem in its own right as ‘women’s experiences of violence and their security needs differ significantly from those of men’ (Hoogensen and Rottem, 2004: 156). This is often due to the extreme nature of the sexual violence especially on the African continent. Sexual abuse is often used as a means of control by male leaders over their child soldiers, boys often suffer but the majority of sexual abuse is aimed at girls. Some girls may make the positive choice to join an armed group so that they can prevent mistreatment and have protection against rape. In a few cases girls may volunteer themselves sexually to a number of partners as a means of acquiring protection, money, clothes and transport (Brett, 2002: 2).
Young girls may also volunteer themselves to armed groups for emotional reasons as they have become displaced from their family and emotional base. The abuse girl soldiers suffer is often but not always sexual. In the Philippines for example no sexual contact was allowed between males and females in an armed group. Equality was also promoted and the girl soldiers were provided with basic healthcare and food. Indeed ‘all the girls were leaving lives of poverty and difficult work and/or home situations and upon joining the movement were provided with basic necessities (Keairns, 2002: 8). There appears to be benefits for some girls who volunteer for armed movements mainly concerning their personal security and the ability of the group to provide protection. Girls are also able to express themselves on an equal footing with boys, exercise their leadership and develop new skills. A girl solder from the Philippines explains;
....they made me team leader for a short time because they thought I was alert and smart. Then I was trained to become a medic. They taught me traditional ways of healing. (UNICEF, 2002 :46)
This situation contrasts with Angola where girls were forced into armed groups and used for sexual purposes and entertainment. Keairns (2002) describes that girls often became pregnant and a refusal of sexual contact resulted in being beaten to death. The girls were sexually abused almost as soon as they started puberty, many forced or given to commanders as gifts. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda/Sudan is one of the worst offenders and girls comprise 30% of its manpower. The girl soldiers are often abducted and the conflict is ‘marked by extreme brutality, sexual abuse, torture, mutilation, forced cannibalism and a wide array of threats’ (Mazurana and McKay, 2004 :28) Girl soldiers are often overlooked by NGO’s and foreign aid mostly due to the stigma attached to their sexual abuse. In effect they are shunned for the horrific atrocities that are forced on their bodies. Governments must take steps to identify the gender element inherent in the recruitment of girl soldiers into armed groups and take action to prevent society from attacking such a vulnerable group.
Human Security and Girl Soldiers
The issue of girl soldiers falls within the ambit of the human security framework and provides a theory capable of addressing the uniquely gendered aspect. Human security is able to focus on the inequalities of gender and concerns itself with the neglect of either sex. The threats faced by women including physical violence, rape and intimidation are confronted as human security seeks to empower women through education, participation and access, ‘as gender equality is seen as a necessary precondition for peace, security and a prosperous society’ (Haq, 1999: 96). The very existence of girl soldiers is at odds with the liberal west and the human rights these ‘states are expected to provide’ (Fox 2004: 476). The breakdown of relations between states and society creates a void in which vulnerabilities can be exploited. This destruction of the expected norm provides a number of threats to girls that a single state may be unable to deal with. Indeed Thomas and Tow (2002: 179) explain that ‘the postures and resources of a single state are inadequate to resolve the problem at hand’. Despite this human security can provide the framework for recognising female vulnerabilities, a uniquely gendered aspect, and the threats caused by the breakdown of state control. Human security recognises these human vulnerabilities so that they can be addressed by the enforcement of international law or humanitarian intervention.
Girl soldiers face a double threat, firstly from the breakdown of the state and secondly from the failure of DDR programmes to recognise the unique experiences of girls in armed conflict. Despite these challenges Fox (2004: 476) argues that ‘human security provides a forum in which the current and future plight of girl soldiers can be recognised as a security concern, where rights abuses against them would be considered an insecurity problem and a threat to established norms. This means that recognising human rights abuses as a security crisis raises the status of the plight of girl soldiers’. A human security pathway addresses human rights abuses and creates a situation where such abuses against children are valued as direct threats to security. Furthermore, ‘human security not only reiterates the norms that legal instruments attempt to uphold, but also recognise the limited role the State plays at times, and in doing so challenges the centrality of the State as the sole actor’ (2004: 476). This statement is vital to the issue of addressing the child soldier’s phenomenon and shows the applicability of the human security nexus for providing a framework for concerted action against this human rights abuse. International legal instruments should under a human security paradigm look to the individual concerns of citizens within states bypassing the traditional boundaries of security. This creates a difficult space in which the justification for intervention would be based on the suffering of individuals, conflicting with traditional realist respect for state security. Such a policy of intervention would be open to abuse and has in the past (Somalia) proved unsuccessful and politically costly to the west. However the intervention in Kosovo was successful albeit controversial in dealing with widespread human rights abuse and individual suffering.
The issue of child soldiers opens the debate for outward intervention in failed states that cannot provide the basic protection for its children. Currently the law would identify girl soldiers as primarily children, failing to take into account the uniquely gendered aspect of the specific vulnerabilities and threat’s that girls face. Hoogensen and Rottem (2004: 156) suggest that ‘gender and gender research have not been adequately engaged by the security studies literature’. The fact remains that girls soldiers are targeted for specific mistreatment and due to being female are uniquely vulnerable.
Post Conflict Experiences
Post conflict rebuilding can provide an important relief for children who have suffered in an armed group fighting an intra-state war. Human Security policy would suggest that the root causes of why children are drawn into conflict should be addressed and dealt with before a child can achieve their personal security. The experiences of girls in DDR programmes suggests that under a traditional approach the needs and wants of the individual are not being addressed and thus the child risks a return to the conditions that caused them to seek security in the first place. Human security policy applied in a post conflict setting should aim to deal with the underlying social causes of what makes a person become uniquely vulnerable. Post conflict rebuilding programmes must take into account the plight of girl soldiers and their role in armed groups. The abuse they suffer often leaves them as outcast from society and having to deal with deep psychological issues. This trend is continued throughout the world wherever girl soldiers are active. Fox (2004: 473) outlines this by stating ‘preliminary recent field research shows the post-conflict experience of girl soldiers is also similar’. Girls have been failed by the demobilisation, disarmament and reintegration programs (DDR) on mass. A practical example of this failure is that aid packages contained only male clothing and did not provide for feminine hygiene. This highlights the focus of the DDR programmes and the demographic they are targeting, ignoring the plight of girls involved in the conflicts. Furthermore many DDR programmes require that the combatant hands in a weapon to benefit from its services. Many girls are not given access to weaponry and have support roles within the armed groups, thus they cannot avail of the DDR program. Many were used in sexual slavery and forced labour and did not require the use of a weapon although they were very much a victim of the armed group’s recruitment. Essentially they are discriminated against because of their gender despite their horrific abuse. This is a child protection issue and these girls have no support and nowhere to turn after the sexual abuse they have been subjected to. They cannot reintegrate with their communities because of the stigma attached to rape and mutilation. They also may have children of their own as a result of sexual abuse; sexually transmitted diseases are also widespread in the young girls. Brett discusses (2003: 2) ‘whether they volunteered as girl soldiers or were abducted, there are problems integrating back into a society that they might have walked away from to begin with or that failed to protect them from forced recruitment’ (Fox 2004: 474). In essence they have been let down by their communities and the armed groups who abused them. Stigma prevents them from fully integrating back into their society and the people who let them down can no longer be trusted. The issue of girl soldiers is a uniquely gendered one and needs to be addressed as an important aspect of the child soldier’s debate as a whole. No longer can girls be ignored by the DDR programmes which aim to bring reconciliation to broken communities
Conclusion
Human security has a strong role to play in first identifying and then tackling the root causes of why children are involved in armed conflict. Traditional security has failed in seeking to identify the suffering of individuals, while human security can provide a much needed emphasis in solving mass human rights abuses. The need for a strong monitoring body in IHL is needed to ensure the respect of humanitarian norms. Such a body needs to identify and provide relief to individuals who suffer and no longer have the protection that the State is required to provide. International law has been vital in defining the issues in the child soldier’s debate but needs strong enforcement mechanisms under a human security doctrine to provide a real solution to the problem. Humanitarian intervention is a method that can prove successful if applied under the right circumstances with the moral intention of helping the individual achieve security. Peace enforcement based intervention backed by a strong mandate will allow external actors with a regional interest to focus on dealing with human rights abuses. This must be reinforced with a robust post conflict rebuilding programme which indentifies the root causes of the conflict and the specific vulnerabilities of children under a human security paradigm. The focus must be on approaches which help the child to psychologically recover and take back their rightful place in the society around them. The broad school of human security has an important role in identifying economic, social, religious and personal requirements needed to resolve the conflict and finally provide the child with security. The issue of child soldiers has had very little theory applied to it with traditional state security approaches seeking to ignore the suffering of the individual based within a state. This situation is no longer acceptable and if a state cannot provide security to children then the international community must step in and recover the situation. Human security must tackle the issues that threaten individuals worldwide and provide much needed relief to vulnerable groups such as child soldiers.
Girl Soldiers represent a particularly vulnerable group identified through human security theory due to issues of gender and their circumstances within society. Very little work exists on how human security could provide suffering girls with relief in intra-state conflict, while the uniquely gendered element of their suffering is easily overlooked by traditional security.
Girl soldiers make up 40% of the total number of child soldiers in active conflicts taking place in the world today. Girls suffer in particular at the hands of vicious warlords who exploit them sexually and physically, creating a gender component to the issue of girl soldiers. Young girls are also among the most vulnerable in poor societies and are given less opportunity to succeed next to their male counterparts. Girl soldiers have been reported joining armed groups to escape enforced marriage or domestic servitude forced upon them by social constrictions or family members. Equally they try removing themselves from situations of domestic violence, exploitation and abuse (www.child-soldiers.org/childsoldiers/why-children-join), Little or no theory has been attached to the security or gender aspect of the girl soldier’s issue. Mary Jane Fox (2004: 465) argues;
‘Gender and security literature has also tended to over look girl soldiers, and there are limitations on applying gender theory to the plight of recruited girls. Although the subject of girl soldiers is difficult to locate within traditional state military security or social security discussions, it appears to fall squarely within the human security approach’
Girls join armed groups for many of the same reasons as boys but there remains a gender element in the factors that pressure them into seeking protection. Human Security needs to identify girls as being at particular risk of exploitation in intra-state conflict, providing the right mechanisms for dealing with conflict and post conflict rebuilding.
Special Circumstances for Girl Soldiers
Increasingly girl soldiers have been observed in armed conflicts involving minors in combat zones. This is not due to a sudden increase of their numbers but a gender oversight in the monitoring of the situation, this lapse is based on the ‘myth that girls do not or cannot fight, and assumptions that girls found within non-state armed groups are not necessarily military support and instead belong within the ambiguous group of camp follower’ (Brett. 2003: 2). Mary-Jane Fox (2004: 465) further argues that girl soldiers have many aspects of recruitment that are similar to boys, but there is also a number of unique reasons specific to their gender. This makes the phenomenon ‘distinctively gendered’. Domestic exploitation or abuse is often put forward as the primary reason girls volunteer to join armed groups, this can involve sexual or physical abuse from other family members. A girl soldier from Columbia explains;
“One of my mother’s men tried to abuse me when I was younger. He tried to abuse me and because I didn’t let him he got angry. He used to fight with my mum and he used to fight with me.....so I didn’t want to live with my mum anymore” (Keairns: 2002).
Very little literature exists that deals with the topic of girl soldiers, even feminist literature rarely analyses the problem. Feminist literature is guilty of dealing with ‘women’ and excluding the threats that girls face and the uniquely gendered aspect of the recruitment of girl soldiers. A girl soldier is a unique problem in its own right as ‘women’s experiences of violence and their security needs differ significantly from those of men’ (Hoogensen and Rottem, 2004: 156). This is often due to the extreme nature of the sexual violence especially on the African continent. Sexual abuse is often used as a means of control by male leaders over their child soldiers, boys often suffer but the majority of sexual abuse is aimed at girls. Some girls may make the positive choice to join an armed group so that they can prevent mistreatment and have protection against rape. In a few cases girls may volunteer themselves sexually to a number of partners as a means of acquiring protection, money, clothes and transport (Brett, 2002: 2).
Young girls may also volunteer themselves to armed groups for emotional reasons as they have become displaced from their family and emotional base. The abuse girl soldiers suffer is often but not always sexual. In the Philippines for example no sexual contact was allowed between males and females in an armed group. Equality was also promoted and the girl soldiers were provided with basic healthcare and food. Indeed ‘all the girls were leaving lives of poverty and difficult work and/or home situations and upon joining the movement were provided with basic necessities (Keairns, 2002: 8). There appears to be benefits for some girls who volunteer for armed movements mainly concerning their personal security and the ability of the group to provide protection. Girls are also able to express themselves on an equal footing with boys, exercise their leadership and develop new skills. A girl solder from the Philippines explains;
....they made me team leader for a short time because they thought I was alert and smart. Then I was trained to become a medic. They taught me traditional ways of healing. (UNICEF, 2002 :46)
This situation contrasts with Angola where girls were forced into armed groups and used for sexual purposes and entertainment. Keairns (2002) describes that girls often became pregnant and a refusal of sexual contact resulted in being beaten to death. The girls were sexually abused almost as soon as they started puberty, many forced or given to commanders as gifts. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda/Sudan is one of the worst offenders and girls comprise 30% of its manpower. The girl soldiers are often abducted and the conflict is ‘marked by extreme brutality, sexual abuse, torture, mutilation, forced cannibalism and a wide array of threats’ (Mazurana and McKay, 2004 :28) Girl soldiers are often overlooked by NGO’s and foreign aid mostly due to the stigma attached to their sexual abuse. In effect they are shunned for the horrific atrocities that are forced on their bodies. Governments must take steps to identify the gender element inherent in the recruitment of girl soldiers into armed groups and take action to prevent society from attacking such a vulnerable group.
Human Security and Girl Soldiers
The issue of girl soldiers falls within the ambit of the human security framework and provides a theory capable of addressing the uniquely gendered aspect. Human security is able to focus on the inequalities of gender and concerns itself with the neglect of either sex. The threats faced by women including physical violence, rape and intimidation are confronted as human security seeks to empower women through education, participation and access, ‘as gender equality is seen as a necessary precondition for peace, security and a prosperous society’ (Haq, 1999: 96). The very existence of girl soldiers is at odds with the liberal west and the human rights these ‘states are expected to provide’ (Fox 2004: 476). The breakdown of relations between states and society creates a void in which vulnerabilities can be exploited. This destruction of the expected norm provides a number of threats to girls that a single state may be unable to deal with. Indeed Thomas and Tow (2002: 179) explain that ‘the postures and resources of a single state are inadequate to resolve the problem at hand’. Despite this human security can provide the framework for recognising female vulnerabilities, a uniquely gendered aspect, and the threats caused by the breakdown of state control. Human security recognises these human vulnerabilities so that they can be addressed by the enforcement of international law or humanitarian intervention.
Girl soldiers face a double threat, firstly from the breakdown of the state and secondly from the failure of DDR programmes to recognise the unique experiences of girls in armed conflict. Despite these challenges Fox (2004: 476) argues that ‘human security provides a forum in which the current and future plight of girl soldiers can be recognised as a security concern, where rights abuses against them would be considered an insecurity problem and a threat to established norms. This means that recognising human rights abuses as a security crisis raises the status of the plight of girl soldiers’. A human security pathway addresses human rights abuses and creates a situation where such abuses against children are valued as direct threats to security. Furthermore, ‘human security not only reiterates the norms that legal instruments attempt to uphold, but also recognise the limited role the State plays at times, and in doing so challenges the centrality of the State as the sole actor’ (2004: 476). This statement is vital to the issue of addressing the child soldier’s phenomenon and shows the applicability of the human security nexus for providing a framework for concerted action against this human rights abuse. International legal instruments should under a human security paradigm look to the individual concerns of citizens within states bypassing the traditional boundaries of security. This creates a difficult space in which the justification for intervention would be based on the suffering of individuals, conflicting with traditional realist respect for state security. Such a policy of intervention would be open to abuse and has in the past (Somalia) proved unsuccessful and politically costly to the west. However the intervention in Kosovo was successful albeit controversial in dealing with widespread human rights abuse and individual suffering.
The issue of child soldiers opens the debate for outward intervention in failed states that cannot provide the basic protection for its children. Currently the law would identify girl soldiers as primarily children, failing to take into account the uniquely gendered aspect of the specific vulnerabilities and threat’s that girls face. Hoogensen and Rottem (2004: 156) suggest that ‘gender and gender research have not been adequately engaged by the security studies literature’. The fact remains that girls soldiers are targeted for specific mistreatment and due to being female are uniquely vulnerable.
Post Conflict Experiences
Post conflict rebuilding can provide an important relief for children who have suffered in an armed group fighting an intra-state war. Human Security policy would suggest that the root causes of why children are drawn into conflict should be addressed and dealt with before a child can achieve their personal security. The experiences of girls in DDR programmes suggests that under a traditional approach the needs and wants of the individual are not being addressed and thus the child risks a return to the conditions that caused them to seek security in the first place. Human security policy applied in a post conflict setting should aim to deal with the underlying social causes of what makes a person become uniquely vulnerable. Post conflict rebuilding programmes must take into account the plight of girl soldiers and their role in armed groups. The abuse they suffer often leaves them as outcast from society and having to deal with deep psychological issues. This trend is continued throughout the world wherever girl soldiers are active. Fox (2004: 473) outlines this by stating ‘preliminary recent field research shows the post-conflict experience of girl soldiers is also similar’. Girls have been failed by the demobilisation, disarmament and reintegration programs (DDR) on mass. A practical example of this failure is that aid packages contained only male clothing and did not provide for feminine hygiene. This highlights the focus of the DDR programmes and the demographic they are targeting, ignoring the plight of girls involved in the conflicts. Furthermore many DDR programmes require that the combatant hands in a weapon to benefit from its services. Many girls are not given access to weaponry and have support roles within the armed groups, thus they cannot avail of the DDR program. Many were used in sexual slavery and forced labour and did not require the use of a weapon although they were very much a victim of the armed group’s recruitment. Essentially they are discriminated against because of their gender despite their horrific abuse. This is a child protection issue and these girls have no support and nowhere to turn after the sexual abuse they have been subjected to. They cannot reintegrate with their communities because of the stigma attached to rape and mutilation. They also may have children of their own as a result of sexual abuse; sexually transmitted diseases are also widespread in the young girls. Brett discusses (2003: 2) ‘whether they volunteered as girl soldiers or were abducted, there are problems integrating back into a society that they might have walked away from to begin with or that failed to protect them from forced recruitment’ (Fox 2004: 474). In essence they have been let down by their communities and the armed groups who abused them. Stigma prevents them from fully integrating back into their society and the people who let them down can no longer be trusted. The issue of girl soldiers is a uniquely gendered one and needs to be addressed as an important aspect of the child soldier’s debate as a whole. No longer can girls be ignored by the DDR programmes which aim to bring reconciliation to broken communities
Conclusion
Human security has a strong role to play in first identifying and then tackling the root causes of why children are involved in armed conflict. Traditional security has failed in seeking to identify the suffering of individuals, while human security can provide a much needed emphasis in solving mass human rights abuses. The need for a strong monitoring body in IHL is needed to ensure the respect of humanitarian norms. Such a body needs to identify and provide relief to individuals who suffer and no longer have the protection that the State is required to provide. International law has been vital in defining the issues in the child soldier’s debate but needs strong enforcement mechanisms under a human security doctrine to provide a real solution to the problem. Humanitarian intervention is a method that can prove successful if applied under the right circumstances with the moral intention of helping the individual achieve security. Peace enforcement based intervention backed by a strong mandate will allow external actors with a regional interest to focus on dealing with human rights abuses. This must be reinforced with a robust post conflict rebuilding programme which indentifies the root causes of the conflict and the specific vulnerabilities of children under a human security paradigm. The focus must be on approaches which help the child to psychologically recover and take back their rightful place in the society around them. The broad school of human security has an important role in identifying economic, social, religious and personal requirements needed to resolve the conflict and finally provide the child with security. The issue of child soldiers has had very little theory applied to it with traditional state security approaches seeking to ignore the suffering of the individual based within a state. This situation is no longer acceptable and if a state cannot provide security to children then the international community must step in and recover the situation. Human security must tackle the issues that threaten individuals worldwide and provide much needed relief to vulnerable groups such as child soldiers.
