Girl soldiers

Girl soldiers (formally girls associated with an armed force or armed group, abbreviation GAAFAG,

Many girl soldiers are abduction victims or forcibly recruited by armed groups and forces, while others join armed groups and forces for a variety of reasons ranging from survival and escape from

In comparison to male child soldiers, female child soldiers are less studied, receive less support during reintegration, have low rates of participation in disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programs, and face a number of additional health, psychosocial and socio-economic effects.

Research

Female child soldiers are paid less attention in scholarship and policy than male child soldiers,^[2][3][1] are at risk of invisibility,^[4] and are marginalized both during conflict and in post-conflict rehabilitation and reintegration strategies.^[5] They have low rates of participation in disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programs,^[6][7] especially so in African conflicts,^[2] and as a result data and statistics derived from these programs face a similar under-representation of girl soldiers.^[2] In general, there is a scarcity of high-quality data,^[3][2] and most of the research that has been published on girl soldiers is qualitative rather than quantitative.^[3]

Scholarship from the 1980s and 1990s on child soldiers focused primarily on the experiences and needs of boy soldiers,^[3][6] and research from the era on women and girls associated with armed groups and forces focused primarily or exclusively on their role as victims in armed conflict, failed to recognize them as active participants and combatants in conflict, and accorded them little to no agency.^[7] In research since, there has been more attention to the varied roles and experiences of girls and women,^[7] including recognition of being both victims and actors in conflict,^[7] and growing awareness that recognition of their agency, although often limited by circumstance, is important for reintegration.^[1] However, the majority of attention on girls and women associated with armed forced and groups remains on their position as victims.^[7]

Data and statistics

Girl soldiers are present in most conflicts where child soldiers are used.^[4] Due to a lack of high-quality data, it is impossible to reliably calculate the number of girl soldiers worldwide, with numbers derived from participation lists of DDR programs described by Leena Vastapuu as misleading as a result of known low participation rates of female soldiers.^[2]

Rough estimates of the number of girl soldiers as being between one-tenth and one-third,^[2] 6–50%,^[1] or up to 40%^[8] of all child soldiers have been given. It is, however, often unclear how these estimates were arrived at.^[2]

Low DDR participation

Several different causes that play a role in the low participation rates of girl soldiers in DDR programs have been given in literature, including:

• Shame and social stigmas faced by girl soldiers for loss of virginity,^[9][3] having given birth to children of their captors,^[9] and for being ex-combatants;^[10]
• Being forced, pressured or expected to stay with their forced sexual partner/"war husband";^[1][9][6]
• Later release by armed forces and groups than their male counterparts;^[11]
• Lack of awareness by girl soldiers of the existence of DDR programs, or of their eligibility to participate;^[11][1]
• Discriminatory and exclusionary approaches to DDR,^{[5][11][7][12]} including:
  • DDR programs being predominantly aimed at boys and men, with insufficient planning for the existence, numbers or needs of girl soldiers;^[5][11][7]
  • Active discrimination and exclusion from some DDR programs, such as in the aftermath of the
    Mozambique civil war;^[11][5]
  • Failure to take into account the specific circumstances of release of girl soldiers, as with DDR programs requiring individual possession and surrender of a weapon for access to the program,[1] such as the initial weapons-for-cash approach used in the aftermath of the Sierra Leone Civil War.^[5]

Recruitment into armed forces and groups

The methods and context of recruitment vary.^[11][6] Girl soldiers have been abducted or forcibly recruited by armed forces and groups in many conflicts.^[11][5] Some are born to women within an armed group or force.^[11][13] Others choose or are pressured to join for a variety of reasons, including having family members in the armed force or group,^[1] economical circumstances,^[14][1] escape from abusive homes^[9][11] or arranged marriages,^[15][11] looking for empowerment,^[1] revenge,^[1] and ideological agreement with the group or force.^[15][11]

There is significant inter-conflict variance: almost all girl soldiers were abducted or otherwise forcibly recruited in the Sierra Leone Civil War^[16] and Angolan Civil War,^[17] whereas girl soldiers in Eritrea report comparatively higher rates of having volunteered.^[15][11]

Participation and roles in conflict

Although the perception of girl soldiers being exclusively or near-exclusively used in

The likelihood of a girl soldier to be a direct rather than exclusively indirect participant in hostilities is variable and context-dependent, with factors that play a role including age, physical strength and maturity, as well as the ideology of the armed group or force with which they are associated.[1]

Research has shown a connection between girl soldiers recruited through abduction and higher rates of sexual exploitation,^[1] and between groups with Marxist ideology and lower rates of sexual exploitation.^[1]

Rehabilitation

Girl soldiers face significant barriers during the reintegration process, and have lower rates of participation in DDR programs than boy soldiers.^[2] In several conflicts, girl soldiers have received very little support during reintegration.^[17][5][7]

Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration

Girl soldiers have in the aftermath of various conflicts—such as the

In comparison to male child soldiers, girl soldiers face a number of additional difficulties both during conflict and rehabilitation, including health, psychosocial, social and economic effects.^[5] Among others, these include high rates of health complications from wartime sexual violence,^[5][9] sexually transmitted diseases,^[11][19][20] and complications from pregnancies, abortions and/or having given birth.^[5][9] They also face additional social stigmas their male counterparts do not,^[5][19] may face higher rates of post-conflict rejection by their communities,^[5] and experience significant socio-economic marginalization.^[5]

References