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Use of Children as Soldiers
1Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Avenue, Northwest, Washington, DC 20052, USA.
Insights
Child soldiers, defined as individuals under 18 recruited by armed groups, face severe physical and mental health issues, including high rates of PTSD. Urgent action is needed to end this global violation.
Area of Science:
- Child protection
- Global health
- Human rights law
Background:
- Child soldiers are persons under 18 recruited or used by armed forces or groups.
- They serve in various capacities, including combat, support roles, and sexual exploitation.
- Significant physical and mental health consequences are associated with this practice.
Purpose of the Study:
- To highlight the definition and multifaceted roles of child soldiers.
- To underscore the severe health implications, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
- To emphasize the scale of the problem and call for an end to child recruitment.
Main Methods:
- The abstract synthesizes existing knowledge on child soldiery.
- It references data on the prevalence of PTSD among child soldiers.
- It cites United Nations reports on violations against children in armed conflict.
Main Results:
- One-third to one-half of child soldiers may experience clinically significant PTSD symptoms.
- Over 25,000 grave violations against children were reported by the UN in 2019.
- The recruitment and use of children under 18 constitute a grave violation.
Conclusions:
- The recruitment and use of child soldiers have profound and lasting negative effects on their well-being.
- There is a critical need to address and prevent the use of children in armed conflicts.
- International efforts must focus on protecting children and ending recruitment.
Abstract:
A child soldier is a person less than 18 years of age who/has been recruited/used by an armed force/armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys and girls, used as fighters, cooks, porters, messengers, spies, or for sexual purposes. Complex consequences on both physical and mental health are reported among child soldiers. One-third to one-half of these children may have clinically significant symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. The United Nations identified more than 25,000 grave violations against children during armed conflicts in 2019. The recruitment and use of children under 18 in armed conflicts must stop.