Girl child soldiers: Towards a gender-sensitive approach?

Abstract

Though the recruitment of child soldiers is a violation of universally accepted human rights and humanitarian law, hundreds of thousands of children participate in armed conflicts today all over the world. Among these child soldiers, girls are the most vulnerable group. Apart from actively participating in the conflict, they usually experience other grave human rights violations, including forced marriage and sexual abuse. Yet, they still constitute the most invisible group of those participating in armed conflicts. The paper aims to fill this gap and examines the current situation of girl child soldiers with particular attention to the post-conflict reconstruction process and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programmes. It builds on the assumption that the experience of girls is distinct from that of boys, and argues that a gender-sensitive approach has not yet been sufficiently incorporated into strategies. Therefore, the paper proposes the adoption of a distinct protection regime in international law and the recognition of the complexity of girl child soldier experiences during policy making. The implementation of this approach can lead to more efficient DDR programmes and higher participation rates, while it can also transform the public perception that places boys at the core of the child soldier phenomenon.