From Information Clearing House
http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/387/2/

The Invisable Plight Of The Girl Soldier
Tuesday, 06 February 2007
By César Chelala

A conference in Paris sponsored by UNICEF and France’s Foreign Ministry
highlighted the plight of children (both boys and girls) soldiers, unwilling
actors in wars ravaging their countries. “Taking a gun and shooting someone was
as easy as drinking a glass of water,” told Ishmael Beah, now 26, to the
participants at the congress. He was recruited when he was 13 to fight in his
native Sierra Leone.

02/06/07 "ICHBlog" -- -- Girls are increasingly becoming unwilling
warriors or soldiers’ sexual partners in conflicts throughout the world. It has
been estimated that between 1990 and 2003, girls as young as 13 have been part
of military and paramilitary groups in 55 countries and have participated in
armed conflict in 38 of those countries. Presently, there are over 120,000 girls
participating in armed conflicts worldwide.

Some girls voluntarily become soldiers. In most cases, however, they are
abducted and obliged to participate in combat operations. Once they become
soldiers they frequently undergo sexual exploitation and abuse. As a result of
sexual relations and rape by fellow soldiers they often acquire sexually
transmitted infections, which are particularly frequent among men from both
government forces and rebel groups. In Sierra Leone, 70 to 90 percent of rape
survivors had a sexually transmitted infection, including HIV/AIDS.

Why do some girls voluntarily become soldiers, in spite of the obvious
dangers involved? They do it for the benefits that situation provides them, such
as protection from ill treatment and to escape situations of domestic
exploitation and abuse. They also do it for the sense of power involved in being
a soldier. In Sierra Leone, for example, girls who became “wives” of commanders
were sometimes in charge of organizing raids or spying missions.

A study by the Canadian human rights organization Rights and Democracy
found that 30 percent of the girls in three countries studied (Mozambique,
Northern Uganda and Sierra Leone) became pregnant during their stay in the armed
forces. Many among them were stigmatized because they had been raped and later
had serious difficulties in trying to reintegrate into their communities.

During the protracted war in Angola, thousands of children –many of them
girls- were recruited as soldiers by both the government and the UNITA rebels.
Although there are some indications that 6,000 children were recruited by UNITA
alone, Human Rights Watch estimates that the actual number was much higher.

Girls don’t have the choice of freely leaving the groups where with whom
they are fighting. Those that try to leave may be recaptured and subject to
punishment. They have to deal with a double threat: recrimination and punishment
from the armed group or discrimination and ostracism from the community when
they return home. Girls who return home pregnant or with a child are made to
feel that they bring “dishonor” to the family.

Reintegration into society is more difficult for girls than it is for
boys, who can boast that they were “warriors” in combat, while girls may have
the stigma of having been sexually abused. In addition, girls may be left with
some other consequences aside from sexually transmitted infections, such as
chronic physical and mental disabilities or the need to look after babies
conceived during forced service. The stigma is not limited to the girl soldier
mothers but also extends to their children who frequently experience the same
kind of rejection as their young mothers.

Because the participation of girls in conflict is often ignored, there are
few programs addressed to their demobilization, rehabilitation and reintegration
into society. In many cases, shunned by their families and communities, they end
up working as prostitutes or doing menial work when conflicts end. Their lack of
education is another casualty of war. [...]

More on the above link.



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