Child soldiers: Challenging sensational stereotypes

Since the 1990s, increasing attention has been drawn to child soldiering in Africa. While greater awareness is important in responding to the use of children as soldiers, popular images have too often sensationalized the issue, with counter-productive consequences. Ubiquitous media images of boys with guns as the epitome of child soldiering and girl sex slaves as 'victims' of conflict obscure the fact that many other children and young people, both male and female, play a variety of different, and often simultaneous, roles in conflict.

In recognition of these multiple roles, and concerned that some of the less visible child soldiers were being ignored and hence overlooked in demobilisation programmes, a group of agencies working with children in conflict met in Cape Town in 1997 to establish a working definition:

"A child soldier is any person under 18 years of 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 accompanying such groups, other than purely as family members."

By casting the net wide, this definition challenges the predominant narrow conceptualisation of child soldiers and takes into account less visible roles, often played by girls and young women. In order to adequately 'see' both girls and boys in fighting forces, we need to sharpen our insight into differential patterns of recruitment, experiences in conflict and demobilisation in different contexts, taking into account factors such as sex, age, ethnicity and socio-economic status.

Recruitment

While it is often assumed that children are forcibly recruited into armed forces and groups, conscription, abduction and gang-pressing of children are relatively rare, although highest in Africa. Despite the ambiguity of 'voluntary' recruitment in contexts of severely constrained choices, we must seek to understand the complex rationale in young people's decision to join out of ideological commitment, self-defence, economic survival or increased opportunities.

In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, ethnic dimensions of the conflict and deliberate targeting of civilians have provoked military reaction by young people to defend their communities and/or avenge deaths. Viewing defence as a collective responsibility for communities in conflict areas, boys and young men have historically joined local militias and defence units, such as the gardiens de la paix in Burundi.

In the face of widespread sexual violence and gender inequality, girls in different contexts have joined armed forces and groups seeking protection or social mobility. Finally, both male and female children and young people have seen armed forces and groups as one of the only means of employment, and hence survival, in contexts of widespread socio-economic deprivation.

Roles and experiences

Monolithic stereotypes of boys with guns and girls as 'simply' 'bush wives', 'sex slaves' or 'camp followers' belie the multiple roles and experiences of young people in fighting forces. While girls have historically played support roles within armed forces and groups, acting as domestic workers, cooks and porters, many others actively engage in hostilities as combatants, suicide bombers and commanders.

For example, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) has a women's auxiliary corps, in which many girls have participated. Children may also act as spies, undertaking fact-finding and reconnaissance missions because they are less conspicuous and therefore less likely to be regarded with suspicion. These roles are not mutually exclusive; in many contexts, children undertake both combatant, as well as non-combatant reproductive and productive labour. For example, Mazurana and McKay (2004) report that girls in Angola were often simultaneously fighters and 'wives'.

Although child soldiers - both boys and girls - are often more at risk of sexual abuse and exploitation than their adult counterparts (Alfredson 2001), it should not be assumed that all children and young people have had these experiences. As Brett (2002) argues, to do so is to deny their individual experiences, treat them as actual or potential sexual objects and contribute to their further stigmatisation and discrimination.

Demobilisation and reintegration

In many situations, the erroneous equation of 'child soldier' with 'combatant' has meant that children and young people playing less visible roles in armed forces and groups have been neglected in disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programmes. For example, in March 2000, the UN Security Council noted that the DDR process in Angola had inadvertently excluded some children, particularly girls, by making the surrender of weapons the criterion for eligibility in the programmes. Some girls and young women face additional barriers to participation in demobilisation programmes, particularly if they have been sexually involved with members of armed forces or groups. These men may consider them their 'wives' or 'property' and block their demobilisation (McConnan and Uppard 2001). The shame of pre-marital sex in many cultures may prevent girls and young women from returning to communities, fearing social stigma and rejection (McKay and Mazurana 2000).

DDR policy and programming also often fail to address the causes, including gendered dimensions, of children's recruitment in the first place. For children and young people who have gained a sense of power and belonging within armed forces and groups, peace may come as a 'disappointment' (Barth 2003), if they are expected to return to traditional roles in hierarchical societies segregated by age and sex (La Fontaine 1985).

Demobilised young people may not stay in their former communities because they have experienced many identity and personal changes. For girls, this may result in gender role discontinuity at all levels of daily life. "Because they changed as a result of their experiences, they challenge traditional roles that they cannot accept, hence the notion of 'troublesome girls' who do not adhere to normal gender roles." (McKay and Mazurana 2004)

Reintegration approaches must therefore involve entire communities, taking into account shifting social, political, economic and gender contexts. This dynamic process entails not only young people adapting to often “disjointed, displaced, reconfigured” communities, but also communities recognising and accepting how girls and boys have changed because of their experiences (McKay and Mazurana 2004).

Towards an alternative approach: Engaging with children as actors in conflict

Moving away from monolithic assumptions about 'boys with guns' and 'girls as sex slaves' requires a recognition of children and young people as actors in the context of conflict. Taking into account the multiplicity of roles and experiences of girls and boys involved in fighting forces means analysing patterns of individual experiences against the backdrop of specific, gendered, localised contexts. In other words, we need to ensure that the general categorization of 'child soldiers' does not essentialize particular groups of children, masking their individual differences. The challenge is to render visible all of the so-called 'invisible soldiers' (Brett and McCallin 1998) - male and female; combatant and non-combatant; in government forces and armed opposition groups - and to seek to understand their experiences as human beings, rather than objectified stereotypes.

* Christina Clark volunteers for Fahamu and is currently undertaking doctoral research on the political roles of displaced young people at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford. Previously, she was Africa programme coordinator at the Child Soldiers Coalition and has worked in various capacities at the Canadian International Development Agency. Click on the link for references.

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