What happens to girl soldiers in the post-conflict?

– Possible societal consequences of girls’ exclusion.

UB Number: 07023015

MA DISSERTATION

2009

ii

To my mother.

iii

iv

Table of Contents

1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1

2 Literature Review .............................................................................................................. 5

2.1 Defining ‘Child Soldier’ ...................................................................................................... 5

2.2 Motivations for recruitment and roles performed during war ........................................ 7 2.2.1 Why become a child soldier? .......................................................................................................... 7 2.2.2 What are the motivations of a recruiter? Why is youth preferable in war? ..................................... 8

2.3 Problematic of the protection of children in new wars: ................................................. 10 2.3.1 Debate on Voluntary vs Forced Recruitment – Perpetrators or Victims ....................................... 10

2.4 Legal instruments for protection of Children ................................................................. 12 2.4.1 International Humanitarian Law ................................................................................................... 13 2.4.2 International Human Rights Law .................................................................................................. 16 2.4.3 War Crimes and Legal System: ‘Jus Cogens’ and its importance ................................................. 20

2.5 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 24

3 Girl Soldiers, Peacebuilding and DDR – A Gender Critique ........................................ 26

3.1 Gender Ideologies in times of conflict .............................................................................. 26

3.2 Gender and Peacebuilding ................................................................................................ 28 3.2.1 Children, Peacebuilding and DDR programmes ........................................................................... 30

3.3 Girls, Peacebuilding and DDR .......................................................................................... 34

3.4 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 43

4 What happens to Girl Soldiers in the Post-Conflict? ..................................................... 45

4.1 Gender Backlash ................................................................................................................ 45

4.2 Girls Backlash and its effects in the society ..................................................................... 47 4.2.1 Post-Conflict Disillusionment ....................................................................................................... 53

4.3 A different path .................................................................................................................. 54 4.3.1 Community Sensitization .............................................................................................................. 56 4.3.2 Rituals, Spiritual Cleansing and Religious Ceremonies ................................................................ 58

5 Conclusion: Where is the ‘Post’ in Post-Conflict? Where is the ‘Re’ in

Reconstruction? ....................................................................................................................... 60

6 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 62

7 Bibliography .................................................................................................................... 66

1

1 Introduction

War has always made victims in the civilian population but the changing nature of

modern warfare during the last fifty years, has resulted in an increase of civilian losses,

as the characteristics of the so-called “new wars1” have increased the proneness of

direct attack on the civilian population.

The distinctions between combatants and civilians are blurred in the battlefields since

those are not clearly distinguished and violence and brutality characterizes those

conflicts: any and all tactics are employed - from systematic rape, to scorched-earth

tactics that destroy crops and poison wells, to ethnic cleansing and genocide2 – by

governments and non-state forces targeting, frequently deliberately, the populations.

Increasingly, children have become the targets and even the perpetrators of violence and

atrocities3. Contrary to the establishment of the Geneva Conventions and United

Nations Convention on the Rights of Children, its Optional Protocol and the UN

Charter, human rights violations against children take place in unprecedented numbers.

It is estimated that 300,000 thousand children under the age of 18 are involved in

conflicts worldwide4, of these some 40% or 120,000

5 are girls. Although these figures

may not be reliable as they remain the same since 19966, it still shows how child

1 Kaldor, Mary (1999), New and Old Wars, Cambridge: Polity Press

2 Machel, Graça (1996), Impact of Armed conflict on children, UNICEF, pp.2,

http://www.unicef.org/graca/a51-306_en.pdf 3 Machel, Graça, (1996), op cit

4 UNICEF, Factsheet: child soldiers http://www.unicef.org/emerg/files/childsoldiers.pdf

5 Mckay, S., and Mazurana, D., (2004), Where are the Girls? Girls in Fighting forces in Northern

Uganda, Sierra Leone and Mozambique: Their lives During and After the War, Rights and Democracy –

International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, Québec, Canada 6 Machel, Graça, (1996), op cit

2

involvement is widespread and how it constitutes a global problem as countries from

virtually every continent continue to use and recruit children into their armed factions.

An increased concern on the matter of children and their suffering placed the issue of

child soldiers on the international agenda, as a human right and peace issue with

important security ramifications.

This agenda has portrayed child soldiering as essentially male phenomenon, neglecting

the experiences and perspectives of girls in fighting forces, thus rendering the later as

invisible and marginalized. They are deemed as peripheral and insignificant by

governments, NGOs, policy makers and program developers and latter discriminated

against by formal processes, communities and families.

No society can achieve peace through the militarization of its youth7, regardless of

gender. When children engage as soldiers losing their formative years and are instead

immerse in violence and guided by military values, they become prone to violence

instead of citizens able to build peace. Robbed of their childhood, children become

means of continuing protracted conflicts and cycles of violence even when the fighting

in one country has ended. Having known no other mean of livelihood except engaging

in violence and fighting, children who see no future in civilian life often cross borders

and fuel neighbouring countries’ wars8.

Child soldiering thus threatens regional stability and damages societies having become a

high priority issue in building peace, which is indivisible from human rights9.

Having survived grave violations of their human rights and participated in brutal acts of

violence, girls bear a second victimization through social and economic exclusion, lack

7 Wessels, M. (2006), Child Soldiers from Violence to Protection, Harvard University Press, Cambridge,

Massachussets, London, England, pp. 3 8 Wessels, M., op cit, pp. 3

9 Wessels, M. (2006), op cit

3

of health services and security threats that could all be lessened if only they were

recognized and included in the rebuilding of society.

This research aims to focus on the incidence and roles of girl soldiers experience during

and after conflict, in order to answer the question what happens to girl soldiers in the

post-conflict? – Possible societal consequences of girls’ exclusion.

Due to the lack of studies on this matter this paper suggests a hypothesis that the

exclusion of girls from DDR processes tend to undermine the efficacy of those

programmes for a sustainable peace and societal reconstruction.

For the purposes of this study we first present a literature review evidencing the lack of

scholarly attention directed towards girls. The invisibility girls suffer in academia helps

to maintain the negligence on international agendas and thus fails to promote their

incorporation in policy frameworks.

The importance of this study is thus related to the lack of resources available in the

specific topic of girl soldiers; it aims to raise awareness but also to contribute to shed

light in an area neglected both by scholarly research and policymakers. It aims to sneak

underneath the surface and present areas of research severely neglected.

Following this assertion, the second chapter looks for the implementation of

Peacebuilding and DDR processes demonstrating the failure in integrating female

combatants in the society. Either due to notions of ‘cultural sensitivity’ or simply for

gendered perspectives of the societies, these processes are inclined to underestimate the

contribution of girls to the warfront thus deepening their exclusion in the future.

Finally, the research presents a possible outcome of how the lack of consideration for

this segment of the society can disrupt its reconstruction and add to inequality as well as

contribute to enhance socio-economic setbacks. In opposition to this perspective, a

different path is presented looking to include the self-healing mechanisms of the arrival-

4

community onto the Peacebuilding project. This aims to integrate both girls and the

community and (re)bond them as well as creating a sense of ‘normalization’ that does

not contradict the girls’ equality.

For the research of this study were used only secondary sources. Qualitative sources

were mainly supported by NGOs’ reports and previous studies from the United Nations

Organization, as well as some international legislation documents and scholarly articles

and journals. The quantitative information present is mostly of one study from the

Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) regarding the inclusion of girls in

DDR programmes, due to the lack of resources on this area.

As most of the studies of ‘child soldiering’ are centred on the roles and experiences of

boys, to the exception of some few articles specific to the topic of girl soldiers, most of

the research is based on the available feminist literature as well as the boy-soldier topic.

5

2 Literature Review

2.1 Defining ‘Child Soldier’

Several challenges arise while defining ‘child soldiers’. First, the idea of childhood is

rooted on the social constructions of different societies and therefore, other people, in

other cultures would have different terms and understandings.

There is no sole definition for a child per se, due to the lack of consent between the

parties involved in the creation of the legal international instruments and thus the

existence of different age limits (12, 15, 18 years old), which refer to different phases of

development and vulnerability of an individual10

. Nonetheless, the basic definition of a

child is recognized, according to several International Law documents, as “any human

being under the age of 18”.11

In non-Western societies, a person is regarded as an adult

when the cultural ceremonies of rite of passage from childhood to adulthood are

completed (typically around 14 years of age)12

, or in terms of labour and social roles.

Due to this lack of definitional consensus concepts as ‘minor’ and ‘underage’ are

sometimes used as synonyms13

to create compromise.

Second, when employing the term soldier what immediately comes to our mind is the

idea of a boy, in a uniform, carrying a gun. And while some children may fit into this

definition, others, including girls, may never use uniform or carry a gun, instead serving

other military functions as porters, spies, cooks and sexual slaves14

.

10

Arzoumanian, Naïri, Pizzutelli, Francesca, (2003), Victimes et bourreaux: questions de responsabilité

liées à la problématique des enfants-soldats en Afrique, IRRC December Vol. 85 No 852

http://www.icrc.org/Web/fre/sitefre0.nsf/htmlall/5WNK3G/$File/IRRC_852_Pizzutelli.pdf 11

African Charter for the Rights and Welfare of the Child, Convention on the Rights of the Child,

International Labour Organization Convention 12

Wessels, M. (2006), op cit, pp. 5 13

Francis, David J, (2007),'Paper protection' mechanisms: child soldiers and the international protection

of children in Africa's conflict zones /

Journal of Modern African Studies (2007), volume 45 , issue 2 , pp. 207-232 14

Wessels, M. (2006), op cit, pp. 6

6

For these reasons, as there is no precise definition for the purposes of this work we

consider a child soldier “any person below the age of 18 who is a member of or attached

to government armed forces or any other regular or irregular armed force or armed

political group, whether or not an armed conflict exists. Child soldiers perform a range

of tasks including: participation in combat, laying mines and explosives; scouting,

spying, acting as decoys, couriers or guards; training, drill or other preparations;

logistics and support functions, pottering, cooking and domestic labour. Child soldiers

may also be subjected to sexual slavery or other forms of sexual abuse”15

, regardless of

gender.

There is an even greater reluctance in the composition and acceptance of a definition of

girl soldiers that will be addressed for the purposes of this dissertation.

The invisibility of gender due to the gender-behaviour stereotypes and the non-

traditional security concept associated with child soldiers, separates girls from the

international relations mainstreaming and removes them from the theoretical paradigms

creating a situation of ‘double-forgetfulness’ and effectively excluding them from the

construction of formal policies. Girls are disregarded as threats to peace due to their

early age and gender; disregarded as citizens as they are too young to vote and influence

the development of politics; disregarded as agents due to stigmatisation of society and

lack of equality for women roles; and disregarded as peacebuilders and as decision-

making16

actors. This increased invisibility places girls in a grey area of the

international legal system and the international community.

15

Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, (2008), Child Soldiers - Global Report 2008, Bell and

Bain, London, pp. 411 16

Mckay, S., (2004), Conflict and Human Security: A Search for New Approaches of Peace-building,

Chapter 7: Women, Human Security, and Peace-building: A Feminist Analysis, IPSHU English Research

Report Series No.19, pp. 154

7

After the war, girls remain thus with no more alternatives then rejoin the militias, cheap

and unskilled labour, homelessness, poverty, crime and prostitution, while suffering the

stigma, guilt and shame due to their participation in the atrocities and marginalization

from the communities as they ruptured social roles behaviour.

2.2 Motivations for recruitment and roles performed during war

2.2.1 Why become a child soldier?

From the literature17

on this subject arise several reasons to explain the motivations for

child soldiering. Ranging from need of protection, to hunger and poverty,

marginalisation and exclusion; lured by ideology as well as status-quo and power,

looking to forge their image as heroes or warriors, family ties or revenge to the

militarization of society or simply the absence of another alternative of integration in

society different of the “gunpowder mentality”18

.

Regarding girls, a few other explanations may be found. For many ‘joining’ is a

response to violence, a protection strategy for themselves or their family or an

opportunity to meet basic needs19

as well as search for empowerment and emancipation

in cultures that enforce rigid and confining roles20

. Response to state violence,

improving education options, abuse or problems at home, family members already in

forces, no other viable alternative due to the extent of chaos in a war-affected society

are some of the reasons stated21

.

17

Francis, David J. (2007), op cit, Machel, Graça (1996), op cit, Yoong, Mary Yong Meng, (2004) Child

soldiers: problems of definition, role and factors for recruitment, Journal of the Royal Malaysia Police

Senior Officers’ College, http://mpk.rmp.gov.my/jurnal/2004b/childsoldiers.pdf 18

Francis, David J. (2007), op cit, pp. 2 19

Mckay, S., and Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit, pp. 14 20

Mckay, S., Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit, pp. 14 21

Mckay, S., Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit, pp.22

8

“People were living in harsh conditions, no food. [...] The RENAMO say that this would

be over [...]. People would be free [...] would have everything [...]. So that is why I went

with RENAMO... I wanted to find something different.22

”

“I felt powerful when I had a gun. As long as you are holding a gun, you have power

over those who don’t. It gave me more status and power.23

”

But this conclusion should not be generalised. Motivations for joining the armed forces

are varied and, with similar backgrounds, some children refused to fight. As in any

decision, the factors that lead an individual are unique24

.

2.2.2 What are the motivations of a recruiter? Why is youth preferable in war?

An important factor in the recruitment of children relies on the nature of wars today,

fought for decades, which in the long run represent a shortage of “manpower”25

that

most of the time, is replaced for children. The use and recruitment of children

simultaneously embody, thus, an answer and the root for the protraction of

contemporary conflicts, furthering its intractability. Girls may also add legitimacy and

symbolic power to the war efforts of a contested military force.

22

Girl in Mozambique in Mckay, S., Mazurana, D., (2004),op cit, pp. 107 23

Girl in Sierra Leone, in Denov, M., and Maclure, R., (2005), Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone:

Experiences, Implications and Strategies for Community Reintegration, Report for the Canadian

International Development Agency, http://www.crin.org/docs/Sierra_Leone_CIDA_Final_Report.doc 24

Francis, David J. (2007), op cit, pp. 5 25

Webster, Timothy, (2007), Babes with arms: International Law and Child Soldiers, The George

Washington International Law review

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5433/is_200701/ai_n21296625/pg_15?tag=artBody;col1

9

Recruiters also favour children due to their naïve nature and impressionable minds26

, as

it is easier to sculpt their actions and force them to commit horrific crimes. They lack

the sense of proportion and inhibition of adulthood which is often fuelled by drugs,

alcohol, brutality and fear. It is also easier to force them to follow orders without fear of

losing the position in the ranks. Furthermore, they do not require payment and their

presence may pose moral challenges to enemy forces27

.

“When they saw how nervous we were, they gave us drugs [...] After the injection I felt

more confident.28

”

“Killing was just part of the normal activities [...] You should be seen killing even

without a reason29

”

More often than not, they have no home or family to go back to as they were forced to

kill or brutalize their own family and communities as the beginning of the

indoctrination, and they are less likely to desert with no hope to be accepted back.

“You had to forget everything about your [...] family... it was about survival30

”

A second aspect is the characteristics of a child body and its physical features31

that are

regarded as an asset in the battleground: their size, weight and agility are better suited

for a wide range of activities.

26

Webster, T., (2007), op cit, pp.22 27

Webster, T., (2007), op cit, pp. 22 28

Girl in Sierra Leone, in Denov, M., and Maclure, R., (2005), op cit 29

Girl in Sierra Leone, in Denov, M., and Maclure, R., (2005), op cit 30

Girl in Angola in Denov, M., and Maclure, R., (2005), op cit 31

Denov, M., Maclure, R., (2005), Op cit, pp.22

10

Finally, the progress achieved in warfare32

during the last decades developed lighter and

smaller weapons that are easier to be carried and used by children.

Children may also start with different functions as cooks, messengers, porters or guards,

spies, domestic labour; girls can also be recruited as wives or to provide sexual

favours33

, but they can all end up in the frontline.

“Our only motive to exist was killing. [...] I burned houses, captured people, I carried

looted properties. I was responsible for tying people, and killing34

.”

2.3 Problematic of the protection of children in new wars:

2.3.1 Debate on Voluntary vs Forced Recruitment – Perpetrators or Victims

There is an ongoing debate on whether children are voluntary part of the hostilities or

they are coerced to take part in it.

Some of the literature35

presents a child as able to choose on engaging or not in the

hostilities presenting as rationale the desire to achieve power, higher status, fighting for

ideology or seeing their bond to the armed forces as a way of having access to valuable

commodities (food, clothes, money, protection…). Hence, not all children should be

regarded as merely victims36

.

32

Denov, M., Maclure, R., (2005), Op cit, pp. 22 33

Yoong, Mary Yong Meng (2004), op cit, pp. 5 34

Girl in Sierra Leone, in Denov, M., and Maclure, R., (2005), op cit 35

Rosen, David M (2005), Armies of the young: child soldiers in war and terrorism, The Rutgers series in

childhood studies, chapter 1 36

Rosen, David M (2005), Op cit, pp 17

11

“I did not willingly [...] join them, but [...] my consciousness was raised about the

movement, I became willing to fight.37

”

Even though this conclusion has some validity, there is an important feature of the

concept of “new wars” – the violence directed against civilians – that fundaments the

coercion theory: children take part in the hostilities due to the environment that

surrounds them. The early socialization with a war-torn society provides no viable

alternative besides the participation on the hostilities and therefore sometimes it is not

an option.

Hence, the idea of coercion involves “press-ganging, conscription, abduction,

kidnapping”38

, violence and tactics of terror as well as peer-pressure and social

indoctrination against individuals. In fact some societies prepare their children to

become warriors when they reach puberty39

.

“During the night, men came into our village and began to fire shots... There were

shouts of ‘get them, catch them’ [...]. My brother and I ran into a bedroom [...] they

found us and threatened us at gunpoint. [...] I was 12 when captured and was with the

[rebels] for 5 years.40

”

37

Girl in Sierra Leone, in Denov, M., and Maclure, R., (2005), op cit 38

Francis, David J. (2007), op cit, pp. 7 39

Sierra Leone’s culture includes a secret male society (the Poro society) – most of the rites of passage

are unknown – where children are educated to become an element able to protect its community (either

fighting or working) sometimes as young as 14 conferring them an obligation of adulthood - Francis,

David J. (2007), op cit, pp. 17 40

Girl in Sierra Leone in Denov, M., and Maclure, R., (2005), op cit

12

Following the recruitment, girls are involved in some sort of training that prepares them

for the everyday functioning of armed groups, including e.g. loading and dismounting

weapons, defence techniques, sabotage41

.

“I never forget that during the war we were trained how to use guns. I know how to

cock the gun. I know everything about guns.42

”

“They took us to their base and trained us [...] to shoot guns, to run, escape and

fight...They showed us how to set an ambush, how to attack and defend... [...]After they

would bring someone for us to kill43

.”

2.4 Legal instruments for protection of Children

Legal protection of children can be found on three main bodies of International Law:

International Humanitarian Law, International Human Rights Law. The International

Humanitarian Law relates to the regulation of methods and means of warfare and the

treatment of people in times of war who are not participating in the hostilities (it

includes injured soldiers, prisoners and civilians), while International Human Rights

Law looks for the regulation of States conduct towards people on their jurisdiction.

For the purposes of this research we will focus on the legal protection of children.44

41

Denov, M., and Maclure, R., (2005), op cit, Mckay, S., Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit 42

Girl in Mozambique in Mckay, S., Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit 43

Girl in Sierra Leone, Denov, M., and Maclure, R., (2005), op cit 44

Harvey, Rachel, (2001), Children and armed conflict, A guide to international humanitarian and

human rights law. -: International Bureau for Children’s Rights, The Children and Armed Conflict Unit,

pp.6, 7, http://www.essex.ac.uk/armedcon/story_id/000044.pdf

13

2.4.1 International Humanitarian Law

The most relevant treaties that apply to warfare nowadays are the Geneva Conventions

(1949) and the two Additional Protocols (adopted in 1977). These protections are

granted to all combatants and civilians without discrimination45

. With particular

importance of special provisions relating to the treatment of women, including

vulnerability to sexual violence, special conditions for female prisoners of war,

internees and detainees, and added protection for pregnant women and mothers of

young children.

2.4.1.1 The Geneva Conventions46

The Geneva Conventions have as a main purpose the protection of victims in

international conflicts, being the IV Convention47

exclusively concerned with the

protection for civilians.

An important remark, in its protection measures includes obligations on parties of a

conflict to provide special protection for children (art. 14, 23, 24). However, this is not

offered to all children under-18, as the concept of reaching the majority at this age even

today is not universally accepted.

45

Mckay, S., Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit, pp. 19 46

The Geneva Conventions(1949) available at: http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/CONVPRES?OpenView 47

The IV Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (1949)

available at:

http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/7c4d08d9b287a42141256739003e636b/6756482d86146898c125641e004aa3c

5

14

There remains, although very feeble nowadays, one exception: common article 3

obligates parties to an internal conflict to provide a set of fundamental guarantees to

non-combatants.

The weakness of these conventions resides in the changing nature of warfare nowadays,

as they are applicable only to inter-state conflicts48

, later counterbalanced by the

addition of the two additional protocols.

2.4.1.1.1 Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions

Adopted in 1977, the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions expanded the

protection for those caught in international conflicts (Additional Protocol I) and internal

conflicts (Additional Protocol II).

2.4.1.1.2 Additional Protocol I49

This protocol looked to increase the protection of children already shaped by the

Geneva Conventions by establishing that children should be object of special respect

and protection from any offensive50

.

It set an evolution, as the first time the issue of child soldiers was addressed51

, while

stating the minimum age of 15 for recruitment and participation of children in hostilities

(art.77).

48

Harvey, Rachel, (2001), op cit, pp. 6, 7 49

Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of

Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), (1977) available at:

http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/7c4d08d9b287a42141256739003e636b/f6c8b9fee14a77fdc125641e0052b079 50

Harvey, Rachel, (2001), op cit, pp. 8, 9 51

Harvey, Rachel, (2001), Op cit

15

It also states a concern regarding the evacuation of children to avoid the removal for

purposes of ethnic cleansing – a practice used during the II World War. In case of

“compelling reasons” for evacuation, parent consent is required and the reuniting should

be provided to families after the war (art.78).

2.4.1.1.3 Additional Protocol II52

This protocol was the first to address the conduct of parties in a non-international

conflict recognizing the right of children to education, reunion with their families and to

be move from conflict areas to safer zones53

in the country (art.4). In this case a

guardian to guarantee their safety should accompany them and consent should be

requested from the parents.

As with Protocol I, there is recognition that children should be kept aside from

participation in hostilities by both government and armed opposition forces54

, setting up

a minimum of 15 years for their recruitment. This prevention has a wider application as

it applies to the direct participation of children and, therefore, it includes the

participation in the front of war as well as cooking, collection of water, transportation of

materials (ammunitions, weapons)55

, etc.

The first step to the criminalization of the recruitment and use of child soldiers might

have being created on this protocol as it states that the prosecution of children for

criminal behaviour during the conflict should not be subject to death penalty, if under

18 at the time of the offence (art.6).

52

Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of

Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II), (1977), available at:

http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/7c4d08d9b287a42141256739003e636b/d67c3971bcff1c10c125641e0052b545 53

Harvey, Rachel, (2001), op cit, pp. 10, 11 54

Harvey, Rachel, (2001), op cit 55

Arzoumanian, Naïri, Pizzutelli, Francesca, (2003), op cit, pp. 833, 834

16

2.4.2 International Human Rights Law

2.4.2.1 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child56

Children Rights were only formally established in 1989 with UN Convention for the

Rights of Children.

For the first time a child was defined as “all human beings under the age of 18” (art. 1)

and a set of rights – economic, civil, political, cultural, etc – are created and considered

“indivisible and interdependent and there should be no hierarchy in their

implementation.57

”

Nonetheless there is a fundamental nucleon of four principles kept at the beginning of

the convention that should always be looked upon: “non-discrimination (art.2), best

interests of the child (art.3), the right to life, survival and development (art.6), and the

right to have their views heard in decisions affecting them (art.12).58

”

Child soldiers are regarded on art. 38 but only59

to guarantee that States will “ensure the

respect for the rules of international humanitarian law applicable to them” and “take all

feasible measures” to prevent their recruitment. This formulation withdraws

accountability to the state, disregarding their responsibility in case of failure to respect

them. The article is created with the purpose of ensuring protection but not with the

purpose of preventing the recruitment per se (which is not emphasized as a crime). This

is also the only provision non-applicable to children under 18, instead remaining the age

of 15 as the minimum for recruiting children into armed forces.

56

United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children (1989), available at:

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/pdf/crc.pdf 57

Harvey, Rachel (2001), op cit, pp. 12 58

Harvey, Rachel, (2001), op cit 59

Arzoumanian, Naïri, Pizzutelli, Francesca, (2003), op cit, pp. 833,834

17

One important fact is the inexistence of a derogation provision60

that allows this

convention to be applied during times of war and peace. Unfortunately, as it is the most

ratified document, it is also the most violated61

. States that struggle to implement the

wide range of rights of children during peacetime, simply disregard them during

wartime. Another setback is related to guerrilla forces, paramilitaries and other rebel

groups not being legally bounded to the principles of the Convention.

In reality the Committee on the Rights of the Child is not suitable for the use in conflict

and emergency situations, cannot make ad hoc recommendations or hear individual

complaints, impose sanctions on offenders or ask for compensations62

. The lack of

enforcement mechanisms and the “self-report” mechanism – that allows states to

present reports on their own record regarding the abuses of children’s rights – are two

important factors that negate power to this Convention63

.

One important evolution of this Convention lays on the fact that it breaks with the

“linguistic tradition of using masculine singular possessive nouns64

”. This means that

whenever there is a need to differentiate the different genders both “his” and “hers”

appear.

60

Arzoumanian, Naïri, Pizzutelli, Francesca, (2003), op cit,

- A non-derogable law is a peremptory norm of law and refers to those rights cannot be violated under

any circumstance (even on emergency situations) – it is indivisible. Regarding non-derogable norms

please check art. 53 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties available at

http://www.worldtradelaw.net/misc/viennaconvention.pdf 61

Arzoumanian, Naïri, Pizzutelli, Francesca, (2003), op cit, 62

Harvey, Rachel, (2001), op cit, pp. 13 63

Cohen, C., (1997), The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: A Feminist Landmark,

WM. & MARY J.WOMEN & L., pp., 29 - 41 64

Cohen, C., (1997), op cit

18

2.4.2.1.1 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the

Involvement of Children in Armed Conflicts (2000)65

This Optional Protocol to the Convention was adopted so more specific mechanisms of

protection could be created regarding children in conflicts and specifically addressing

child soldiers.

The minimum age of recruitment, either compulsory or voluntary, was raised from 15 to

18 years old. Unfortunately due to the action of some states and the lack of consensus, a

blanket minimum was not achieved66

.

Although focusing precisely on the subject of children engaging in armed conflicts, this

protocol does not achieve its purpose, as being an optional protocol requires a voluntary

ratification of States to be enforced in to International Law.

2.4.2.2 The African Charter on the Rights and welfare of Children

(1990)67

Recently adopted and based upon the Cape Town Principles68

this document is the most

notable evolution on the field of international law concerning children as it is the only

regional binding instrument that directly addresses this issue.

It places the highest criterion for children defining them as “all the human beings under

the age of 18” and calling on all parties to apply the necessary measures for the

protection of children.

65

Optional Protocol to the convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed

Conflicts,(2000), available at: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/6/protocolchild.htm 66

It was stated that non-conscripted children may be accepted in the army in order to allow the USA and

the UK to have 15 years old serving. 67

The African Charter on the Rights and welfare of Children, (1990), available at: http://www.africa-

union.org/official_documents/Treaties_%20Conventions_%20Protocols/A.%20C.%20ON%20THE%20R

IGHT%20AND%20WELF%20OF%20CHILD.pdf 68

Cape Town Principles, (1997), available at:

http://www.unicef.org/emerg/files/Cape_Town_Principles(1).pdf

19

One feature stands out, as this document was created through the cooperation of African

leaders within the platform of the African Union. Similarly to the official documents

adopted by the European Union, this document possesses the opportunity to change

national jurisdiction upon its acceptance by the governments. Nonetheless, Africa is still

the most affected continent regarding this issue.

2.4.2.3 UN Security Council Resolutions69

From 1999 onwards four resolutions were adopted regarding the subject of child

soldiering with the important characteristic of relating to all parties that might have

influence in the conflict to take action on the protection of children.

Security Council Resolution 1261 (1999)70

, 1314 (2000)71

, 1379 (2001)72

, 1460 (2003)73

all referring to child soldiers, present this practice as a threat to international peace and

security and therefore falls on the sphere of activity of Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

This chapter sets out the powers of the Security Council to maintain peace and thus

allows it to "determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or

act of aggression74

" and to take military and non-military action to "restore

international peace and security75

".

69

UN Security Council Resolutions, available at: http://www.un.org/documents/scres.htm 70

UNSC res. 1261 (1999) on the Children and armed conflict, available at:

http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N99/248/59/PDF/N9924859.pdf?OpenElement 71

UNSC res. 1314 (2000) on the Children and armed conflict, available at:

http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N00/604/03/PDF/N0060403.pdf?OpenElement 72

UNSC res. 1379 (2001) on the Children and armed conflict, available at:

http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N01/651/10/PDF/N0165110.pdf?OpenElement 73

UNSC res. 1460 (2003) on Children and Armed Conflict, available at:

http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N03/231/16/PDF/N0323116.pdf?OpenElement

1.1 74 United Nations Charter, Chapter VII - Action with Respect to Threats to

the Peace, Breaches of the Peace and Acts of Aggression, available at:

http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter7.shtml 75

United Nations Charter, Chapter VII, op cit

20

Although these resolutions are not legally bind on States, they reflect the awareness and

the increased importance of the protection of children, while providing a framework of

standards to the international community.

Unfortunately it remains just a reminder76

in the international agenda of an issue to be

addressed as the reinforcement made by the subsequent resolutions does not present any

action taken towards the end of the practice.

2.4.3 War Crimes and Legal System: ‘Jus Cogens’ and its importance

Certain crimes threaten the peace and security of international system and shock the

conscience of humanity. When a crime comprises both of those elements it is

denominated as Jus Cogens.

The legal literature discloses the following international crimes are jus cogens:

aggression, genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, piracy, slavery and slave-

related practices, and torture.

“This legal basis77

consists of the following:

(1) International pronouncements, or what can be called international opinio juris,

reflecting the recognition that these crimes are deemed part of general

customary law;

(2) Language in preambles or other provisions of treaties applicable to these crimes

that indicate these crimes’ higher status in international law;

(3) The large number of states which have ratified treaties related to these crimes;

and

76

Harvey, Rachel, (2001), op cit, pp.17 77

Bassiouni, Cherif, M., (1997) International Crimes: Jus Cogens and Obligatio erga omnes, pp. 68

www.law.duke.edu/shell/cite.pl?59+Law+&+Contemp.+Probs.+63+(Fall+1996)+pdf

21

(4) The ad-hoc international investigations and prosecutions of perpetrators of these

crimes.”

There is almost an abusive use of the concept war crime to portray every atrocity

carried out during a conflict; however its definition is much more accurate: a war crime

is a severe violation of the International Humanitarian Right, the juridical code which

defines the rules of war78

.

As a consequence there is not only one institution created for the respect of these laws

and, due to different historical circumstances, there is not only one court responsible to

maintain the respect of these: they can be addressed by the International Criminal Court

(created by the Rome Statute in 1998 and formally established in 2002), ad-hoc courts

created for this effect, hybrid courts (created through an agreement between a State and

the UN), and the national courts79

.

Contrary to most of the International Law, this concept does not relate to the use of

force by States, it is applicable to individuals once the conflict has started and has the

main purpose of restrain the civilian casualties and limit the suffering80

.

The definition of war crimes as a ‘Jus Cogens’ norm is, therefore, quite relevant due to

the higher status it acquires and the legal obligations that derive from it - such gross

human rights violations reflect the importance of these crimes and their universal

condemnation81

. The term ‘Jus Cogens’ means “compelling law” and reflects a body of

peremptory principles of international laws that are universal and non-derogable82

.

78

Bassiouni, Cherif, M., (1997), op cit 79

Anderson, Janet, Sullivan, Stacy, (2006), Les tribunaux de crimes de guerre: Guide pratique a

l’intention des journalistes, Institute for War & Peace Reporting, Project IWPR-Afrique, pp. 6

http://www.iwpr.net/pdf/reporting_justice_p1_w_fr.pdf 80

Anderson, Janet, Sullivan, Stacy, (2006), op cit

2 81 Andreson, Kjell Follingstad, (2007), Dictionary of Gross Human Rights Violations: Jus Cogens,

3 http://www.sharedhumanity.org/LibraryArticle.php?heading=Jus%20Cogens 82

Andreson, Kjell Follingstad, (2007), op cit

22

Thus the implications of ‘Jus Cogens’ are those of a duty in times of war as well as

peace. Consequently, recognizing certain international crimes as ‘Jus Cogens’ carries

with it the “obligation to prosecute or extradite, the non-applicability of statutes of

limitation for such crimes, and universality of jurisdiction over such crimes irrespective

of where they were committed, by whom (including Heads of State), against what

category of victims, and irrespective of the context of their occurrence (peace or war).

Above all, the characterization of certain crimes as ‘Jus Cogens’ places upon states the

compulsory norm of not to grant impunity to the violators of such crimes.83

”

Currently indicted in the Special Court for Sierra Leone are thirteen people from several

warring factions, including former Liberian President Charles Taylor84

, for Crimes

against Humanity, extermination, mutilation, rape and other forms of torture,

humiliation and degraded treatment as well as war crimes in which the recruitment and

use of children under-15 falls85

.

At the time of the trial it was ruled that, although the International Criminal Court was

only formally establish by the Rome Statute in 1998, the use and recruitment of children

had been crystallized as a custom into an international norm for which an individual can

be prosecuted86

even if in retroactive terms. The Court, who only is to handle the

gravest war crimes committed in Sierra Leone, made an historical decision by affirming

that the recruitment and use of child soldiers was under its jurisdiction and was an

internationally illegal war crime87

.

It is important to mention one of the arguments former President Charles Taylor

rejected claims the claims against him regarding the use and recruitment of child

83

Bassiouni, Cherif, M., (1997), op cit, pp.66 84

Bassiouni, Cherif, M., (1997), op cit 85

On the article regarding his declarations, please check: Charter, D., (Friday, July, 17th, 2009), Enemy

skulls on our roadblocks made people obey, Taylor tells atrocity court, The Times, pp. 44 86

Blunt, Elizabeth, (2004), BBC News online, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3767041.stm 87

Staff writer, (2004), Sierra Leone court affirms child soldier recruitment is war crime, Afrol News

http://www.afrol.com/articles/13094

23

soldiers. He stated as his defence that children were not at the frontline but they were

rather mere ‘camp followers’, thus not under the mandate of the Special Court and not

under the definition of war crime. On his own words: “They were not trained for

combat and did not engage in combat. They were used to cook food and to wash

clothes, to man the gates and to search vehicles”, said Mr. Taylor, “[…] The young

men were carrying rifles, walking with their families but never entered combat.88

”

An important question arises regarding this argument as it has been used several times

by experts that state the exclusion of girls from processes of reintegration under the

same grounds: girls are not soldiers, they are only camp followers and next of keen.

This distinction between ‘camp followers’ and ‘soldiers’ is another of the concepts that

neglects girls and their roles during war. Picturing girls as mere camp followers

excludes their experiences during the conflict, presenting a simplistic analysis of the

social phenomen. But it also excludes important actors without whom conflicts would

struggle to maintain its protracted nature. Supporting functions are not only essential for

the daily activities of a military camp; they represent as well an impact on the complete

militarization of the society.

88

Charter, D., (Friday, July, 17th, 2009), op cit, pp. 44

24

2.5 Conclusion

In the past decade the issue of children participating in political conflicts around the

world has captured the attention of the world. Images of young children carrying guns

and ammunition, with military uniforms, were brought to us by the media.

Abducted, forced to join the military they committed the most horrendous atrocities and

made us rethink the concepts of childhood and the iconology of soldiers.

Many of these child soldiers are boys, but not all.

Between 1990 and 2003, girls belonged to fighting forces in 55 countries, and took part

in fighting in 38 of these countries where internal armed conflicts were underway89

.

These figures show that in the internal wars of Africa, Latin America and Asia girls’

presence in armed groups is most common.

There has been a trend to emphasize girls’ victim roles and downplay their agency;

portraying them as “wives”, “sexual slaves” and supporting groups. But the changing

nature of conflict and the evaluation of contemporary warfare instigate the creation of a

more complex picture of their activity in war and its implications for them. They are, in

this view, more actively involved and associated with defending the society at war and

sustaining its fabric, and more openly exposed to its brutality, and sometimes complicit

in it90

.

Girl soldiers overlap established borders and have a ‘paradoxal existence’ by belonging

to several spaces with multi-faced identities. They are not yet women, not only children,

89

Mckay, S., Mazurana, D., (2004), Introduction, op cit 90

UNRISD (2005a), Gender Equality: Striving for Justice in an Unequal World - Section 4: Gender,

armed conflict and the search for peace, Chapter 13 -The impacts of conflict on women, Policy Report on

Gender and Development: 10 Years after Beijing, , pp. 213, 214 UNRISD/UN Publications - New York,

Geneva

http://www.unrisd.org/80256B3C005BCCF9/httpNetITFramePDF?ReadForm&parentunid=89006134441

CA125C1256FB1004DD348&parentdoctype=documentauxiliarypage&netitpath=80256B3C005BCCF9/

%28httpAuxPages%29/89006134441CA125C1256FB1004DD348/$file/GE_15Chap13.pdf

25

not only victims or perpetrators. They have a world of their own and thus, not belonging

completely to neither of those they are disregarded.

Most of the concepts in academia focus only on one of these worlds. NGOs and

international organizations frequently overlook or reject the presence and needs of girls

and tend to under-report their incidence.

Towards a future of a more pacific society it is vital to reintegrate these girls without the

stigmatization of their past life of violence by showing they were victims of war and

crime. But for that we need to recognize their experiences.

26

3 Girl Soldiers, Peacebuilding and DDR – A Gender Critique

3.1 Gender Ideologies in times of conflict

Gendered perceptions are mostly based on discursive representations in which the

provision of national security has been the province of men91

, associating masculine

values of strength, honour and courage. Cross-culturally and historically, combat has

been reserved for men and boys as an arena in which they can test, prove, and be

rewarded for their virility, demonstrating manhood92

.

Feminists have theorised ideas about how women and femininity form, by contrast, an

essential part of the process of constructing a male identity appropriate for the warring

society. In this sense, the manipulation of gender-appropriate behaviour has been a

central notion surrounding the militarization of a society, government or/and the

international relations93

.

Female soldiers have existed in most parts of the world and at most times. In Africa, for

example, we read of cases where women have served in guerrilla armies and liberation

movements in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa, and

Algeria94

. In such cases, the role of women and girls has been both to increase the

number of soldiers in general and to serve in roles unique to women. The involvement

91

Collins, A. (2007), Critical Security Studies, Chapter 5 – Gender and Security, Oxford University Press 92

Enloe, C., (2000), Maneuvers: The International Politics of Militarizing Women’s Lives, Berkley and

Los Angeles: Univ. of California P., pp.3 93

Enloe, C., op cit, pp.3 94

Regarding this subject please check: Ethiopia (Hammond & Druce, 1990), Namibia, Zimbabwe

(Kriger, 1992; Zimbabwe Women Writers, 2000), Mozambique (Arthur, 1998), Algeria (Coughlin, 2000),

Liberia (Bennett, 1995), Sierra Leone (Ayissi, 2000: 144–148), Guinea-Bissau (Urdang, 1979), and

Uganda (Turschen, 1998). Even tiny Djibouti had female soldiers in its civil war (Milas, 2000).

27

of female soldiers in armed conflicts challenge deeply anchored preconceptions of

gender identity95

.

Former female combatants may face particular difficulties in reintegration, especially

where they are perceived as having transgressed gender roles or where demobilisation

programmes, including rehabilitative measures, are directed towards male combatants.

Some may have been active in the transfer of small arms, worked as a frontline soldier,

engaged with guerrilla opposition, and face destitution upon the changing status quo96

.

Even if not enlisting as soldiers, women and girls can (and are) part of conflict through

supporting and maintaining guerrilla forces through the supplying of food, information,

shelter, and nursing soldiers97

... This assumption, disputed by recent feminist critique,

appears over-simplistic in the light of the active role some women take in conflicts or in

supporting the fighting cause98

.

Yet while men and masculinity have received significant attention as an inseparable part

of the war machine, women and deeply held ideas about femininity were overlooked

when analysing the construction of militarization and war99

. Arguing against the

predominant stereotypes of women as innately peaceful and men as warlike100

, feminist

scholars urged the need to understand gender complexities and the multiple roles they

play drawing different actors to war101

.

Women and girls are excluded from reconstruction and rehabilitation processes and

their support is reduced to that expected from their kinship to male soldiers102

. They are

seen as mothers, daughters, wives, sisters, military nurses, war widows and sex workers

95

On this see: Campbell, 1990; Segal, 1993; Cooke, 1996 96

Chinkin, C., (2004), Gender, International Legal Framework and Peacebuilding,

Gender and Peacebuilding in Africa, Training for Peace, Norsk Utenrikspolitisk Institute, pp.34 97

Farr, V., (2002), Gendering Demilitarization as a Peacebuilding Tool, BICC, Bonn, pp. 6 98

UNRISD (2005a), op cit, pp.224 99

Farr, V., (2002), op cit, pp. 6 100

Fukuyama, F, (1998), Women and the Evolution of World Politics, Foreign Affairs, vol. 77, 6. 101

Farr, V., (2002), op cit, pp. 6 102

Farr, V., (2002), op cit

28

and thus they remain at the margins of the political, economical and social process and

their voices tend to disappear as soon as the peace process begins103

. They become

‘camp followers’104

.

3.2 Gender and Peacebuilding

The term "Peacebuilding" came into widespread use after 1992 when Boutros Boutros-

Ghali, then United Nations Secretary-General, announced his Agenda for Peace105

, text

quickly became the milestone on the UN’s peacebuilding and disarmament work.

Peacebuilding is defined as “a means of preventing the outbreak, recurrence or

continuation of armed conflicts” by the use of a wide range of political, developmental,

humanitarian and human rights mechanisms106

. Recommended measures for its

implementation include “disarmament, restoring order, the custody and possible

destruction of weapons, the repatriation of refugees, advisory and training support for

security personnel, election monitoring, human rights protection, reforming or

strengthening governmental institutions and promoting formal and informal processes

of political participation107

”.

Thus the process of Peacebuilding encompasses the stages of a conflict with the

ultimate aim of laying the basis for sustainable peace in a war-torn society. The purpose

of this process goes beyond the establishment of physical security and often implies

103

Farr, V., (2002), op cit pp. 7, also, McKay, S. and Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit 104

Farr, V., (2002), op cit, pp. 7

As an extra note it is important to notice that no programmes are developed in order to reach camp

followers (family members of combatants or at least those presented as kin that accompany the

combatants to the DDR processes). They are not regarded as combatants nor IDPs thus they receive no

support from the organizations. 105

Boutros-Ghali, (1992), An Agenda for Peace, Preventive diplomacy, peacemaking and peace-keeping,

Report of the Secretary-General, UN Doc. A/47/277 - S/24111 106

Statement by the President of the Security Council, (20 February 2001), (S/PRST 2001/5).

http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/{65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-

CF6E4FF96FF9}/WPS%20SPRST%202001%205.pdf 107

Boutros-Ghali, (17 June 1992), op cit, para. 55

29

essential societal changes, focusing on but not exclusive to the grassroots level108

, thus

encompassing gender relations as a pervasive characteristic of any society. According to

Lederach, Peacebuilding involves a long-term commitment to a process that includes

“investment, gathering of resources and materials, architecture and planning,

coordination of resources and labour, laying solid foundations, construction of walls

and roofs, finish work and ongoing maintenance109

”.

One of the main focuses of Peacebuilding processes lies in Disarmament,

Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) of ex-combatants. These programmes are

intended to facilitate disbanding military fighters and allow their peaceful transition

back into society. They are often given priority at the cease of hostilities, as the decrease

in insecurity and the built of a future sustainable peace for the society will depend on

their reintegration as contributing civilians.

Although sometimes they are characterized as “money for cash” programmes, DDR has

become a multifaceted programme110

which can involve the turning in of weapons and

weapons caches, the physical relocation of ex-combatants (often first in camps),

distribution of benefits packages for ex-combatants (this can include clothing, minimal

amounts of food and cash settlements), and development of credit, training or other

programmes to assist the reintegration of combatants into their communities111

. One

important point to mention is the almost entirely focus on the disarmament and

demobilization parts of DDR, either regarding funding or effort of the international

community, which will disregard the longer process of reintegration and thus affect the

108

Lederach, J., P., (1997), Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies, Washington,

DC: United States Institute of Peace Press, pp. 82, 83 109

Lederach, J., P., (1997), Op cit 110

Kilroy, W., (N/A), A participatory approach to disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR),

pp. 3, http://www.essex.ac.uk/ecpr/events/graduateconference/barcelona/papers/463.pdf 111

Department for Disarmament Affairs in collaboration with the Office of the Special Adviser on

Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, (March 2001), Gender Perspectives on Disarmament,

Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR), United Nations, pp.1,

http://www.wwan.cn/disarmament/HomePage/gender/docs/note4.pdf

30

investment in the R’s (rehabilitation, reintegration and resettlement, etc) sections

(education, built of skills and health sectors) essential for the reconstruction of the

societal tissue112

and for sustainable peace.

International law recognizes the need to reintegrate child soldiers into civil society113

and thus creates a window of opportunity for the implementation of formal DDR

programmes addressing the needs of children. Unfortunately the resources allocated as

well as the number of programmes are still limited and there is little research regarding

this topic.

3.2.1 Children, Peacebuilding and DDR programmes

The link between Children and Peacebuilding is as urgent as the link between

reintegration and development114

. As war creates instability, destroys economies and

deprives children of the education and skills necessary to create effective civilians, the

need to integrate them into programmes that intend to reintegrate ex-combatants and

supporters formerly associated with the military is blatant. This idea of reintegration

should also be closely linked with the idea of protection as the instability of post-

conflict societies can put children at grave risk of re-recruitment.

DDR programmes have several societal benefits but for children, their success lies on

the ability of reintegrate them as full and effective citizens and presenting non-violent

alternatives of conflict resolution115

thus separating them from the “gunpowder

112

Seminar on the Challenge of Reintegration of Ex-Combatants in DDR Programmes in West Africa,

Dakar, (8 April 2005), Final Communique, UNOWA – UN Office for West Africa, para. 4,

http://www.un.org/unowa/unowa/preleas/ddr080405.pdf 113

Article 39 of the CRC obliges states to take steps towards the physical and psychological recovery and

reintegration of child victims of armed conflict and other forms of abuse, see CRC

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm#art39, op cit 114

Wessels, M., (2006), op cit, pp. 155 115

Ibidem, pp. 160

31

mentality116

” acquired during the war. Children will be the next generation of active

citizens in any society and thus on them will lay the social and economic development

in the near future. On them will depend the choices of a country and its ability to lay a

path of sustainable peace and growth hence the ability to effectively reintegrate children

in the community will reduce the number of future spoilers117

.

In order to achieve the goal of building societies in a post-conflict environment, the first

steps are usually disarmament and demobilization measures that are constructed

thinking of combatants as beneficiaries and thus they should aim to include child

soldiers.

In disarmament processes armies surrender their weapons and individuals are registered

and given documents proving they have been ‘disarmed’. This is a complex procedure

as the possession of weapons is linked to security. In a broader picture though,

surrendering weapons represents the end of hostilities and the transition out of military

life into a peaceful society118

. This process is actually quite tricky when in question are

children and more specifically girls. Even on DDR processes that regarded the needs

children there is discrepancy among officials and staff in charge on whether or not the

presentation of a weapon is a qualifying condition for the acceptance in the

programme119

. This condition is actually quite important as most of the younger soldiers

– especially girls, but also boys – are not only front-line soldiers and rather have blurred

roles that range from domestic tasks to intelligence.

116

Francis, David J, (2007),'Paper protection' mechanisms: child soldiers and the international

protection of children in Africa's conflict zones /

Journal of Modern African Studies (2007), volume 45 , issue 2 , p. 207-232 117

Kilroy, W., (N/A), Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) as a participatory process:

involving communities and beneficiaries in post-conflict disarmament programmes, pp.1

http://www.essex.ac.uk/ecpr/events/graduateconference/barcelona/papers/463.pdf 118

Wessels, M., (2006), op cit, pp. 158 119

Mckay, S., & Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit, pp. 98

32

Following disarmament, there is period of demobilization typically ensured by

international organizations in an Interim Care Centre (ICC). These demobilization

centres symbolize the official discharge from the military forces and provides children

with the necessary documentation to prove they are not deserters120

as well as provide a

safe place where basic health services and psychological support is offered121

.

Peacebuilding and DDR processes will then move on to a last and long-term phase of

reintegration that should include the construction of strong family ties and communities

as well as grant positive options for former combatants.

For former child soldiers reintegration involves family reunification, educational

opportunities, psychological and healing support, and training in vocational skills

preparing them to assume civilian roles122

.

The success of these programmes can be measured if they “satisfy former child soldiers’

needs to fill their family obligations, avoid stigmatization, and gain social

acceptance123

”.

Although children have been absent from official guidelines, the CRC, as well as

UNICEF and several NGOs have been pressuring institutions and governments to make

a change regarding their inclusion124

.

120

Mckay, S., & Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit, pp. 159 121

Mckay, S., & Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit 122

Mckay, S., & Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit, pp. 160 123

Mckay, S., & Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit, pp. 155 124

Mckay, S., & Mazurana, D., (2004),op cit, pp. 158, On this also check: CRC art. 39, UNICEF reports

and articles pressuring peers to take action, as well as several NGOs dedicated to the cause of child

soldiers (Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, Save the Children, War Child...). On transnational

activism related to the cause of child soldiers check: Heckel, H., (2004), Transnational Activism for

children: The impact of NGO advocacy and US policy in the case of child soldiers, early draft, (N/A),

available at:

http://www.allacademic.com/one/mpsa/mpsa04/index.php?cmd=mpsa04_search&offset=0&limit=5&mul

ti_search_search_mode=publication&multi_search_publication_fulltext_mod=fulltext&textfield_submit=

true&search_module=multi_search&search=Search&search_field=title_idx&fulltext_search=Transnation

al+Activism+for+children:+The+impact+of+NGO+advocacy+and+US+policy+in+the+case+of+child+so

ldiers

33

Looking back to lessons learned from previous conflicts, there has been a development

on the structure of DDR programmes but there is more to be learned and, being adult

driven, questionable processes offering inadequate assistance to children remain125

.

Child soldiers’ voices have been marginalized in the design, implementation and

evaluation of processes. Also, the western construction of DDR reflects universalized

views of children failing to recognize social class, ethnicity, gender and specific

vulnerabilities126

and based on notions of ‘childhood’ and ‘child’ that are not taken into

context and thus may be unhelpful and exclusionary127

. The ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach

is apparent when considering the needs of girls and other vulnerable groups (as disabled

children, e.g.).

The identification of girls in the grey area of “camp followers” is the most normal

procedure for international and national organizations thus sharply contrasting with

their absence in reintegration processes128

, as this group is mostly forgotten when

screening beneficiaries129

. Though child protection agencies and human rights groups

draw attention to this misconception, gender disparities that privilege boy soldiers over

girls mean that few girls benefit from formal DDR processes. These are mainly

designed to restore security, and as female combatants are not seen as a major security

threat, they are insufficiently targeted.

The Copenhagen School’s security premise130

defends that through a discursive act,

major security threats are defined and placed in the “high politics” agenda making them

prone to an urgent response in order to restore peace. This ‘selective securitization’ is an

125

Mckay, S., & Mazurana, D., (2004),op cit, pp. 155-156 126

Jareg, E., (2005), Crossing Bridges and Negotiating Rivers: the Rehabilitation and Reintegration of

Children associated with Armed Forces, London: Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, 127

Mckay, S., & Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit, pp. 119 128

UNICEF report, (June 2005), The Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration of Children

associated with the Fighting Forces – Lessons Learned in Sierra Leone 1998 – 2002, UNICEF WEST

AND CENTRAL AFRICA REGIONAL OFFICE, Senegal, Dakar, pp. 13 129

UNICEF, (2005), op cit, pp. 16 130

Collins, A., ed, (2006), op cit, Chapter 7 - Securitization

34

effective method of garnering funding and support for a certain program while

disregarding others. It is important to take this perspective into account to realise how

females are often placed in the domestic sphere and how the post-conflict policies

dictate and restrict girls’ courses of reintegration and development.

The visible gender bias of most DDR131

programmes has left us having little

understanding of girls’ reintegration and thus a more insightful research regarding the

rehabilitation of girls who bypassed the formal programmes is needed. As much as this

secrecy would favour their anonymity, it also conceals their need for special support and

leaves them with economic, psychological and social burdens132

.

3.3 Girls, Peacebuilding and DDR

In Sierra Leone more than 48,000 of the soldiers were children including over 12,000

girls. Of these only 506 girls – a mere 4% - compared to 6052 boys – circa 18% - went

through DDR, this despite an estimated 25% of child soldiers being girls133

. Similarly, a

study of 40 former girl soldiers in Angola found that only one was recognized as a

soldier134

. In a study conducted in five provinces of eastern Democratic Republic of

Congo, 23 girls as compared with 1718 boys were demobilized despite an estimate that

girls comprise 30% to 40% of children in fighting units135

.

131

“In Sierra Leone for, all the phases, only 8% of children integrating DDR programmes were girls.

Although this is not an accurate number as no studies were made regarding specifically girls, it is

estimated that about 3000 girls who would be eligible for the DDR processes did not registered.” in

UNICEF (2005), op cit, pp. 16 132

Wessels, M., (2006), op cit, pp. 163 133

Mckay, S., Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit, pp.91 134

Stavrou,V., (2005), Executive summary: Breaking the silence. Richmond, Virginia and Ottawa:

Christian Children’s Fund and Canadian International Development Agency 135

Verhey, B., (2004), Reaching the girls: Study on girls association with armed forces and groups in

the DRC. Save the Children UK and the NGO Group: CARE, IFESH and IRC.

35

“DDR was not organized, unreliable and biased. They slotted their relations who were

not combatants, into the program. These were the people that were benefiting so much.

DDR would go on the radio and make announcement that ex combatants should go for

their allowances the following day, but by the time you get there, they have

changed.136

”

Regardless of written policies on the subject of gender-specific orientations and priority

for female combatants, women and girls are either excluded from the programmes due

to pre-conceived ideas about femininity or ignored altogether as there is no suitable

construction and implementation of reintegration programmes.

Personal hygiene kits, separate and secure toilet and shower facilities are neglected most

of the times, as well as poor security in camps compromises their security137

.

In Sierra Leone 43% of the girls said they had not received adequate clothing, 54% said

they did not receive adequate sanitation materials, 23% said they have requested

medical care but did not received any138

, 21% of the girls said they feared attacks in the

centres by members of opposing forces139

.

Also, for many girls the first contact with ‘bush life’ is rape and thus there is a need of

special characteristics in a programme that will address female needs as counselling and

medical screening140

.

136

Girl in Sierra in Denov, M., and Maclure, R., (2005), op cit 137

Wessels, M., (2006), op cit, 138

Mazurana, D, and Carlson, K., (2004), From combat to community, Boston: Women Waging Peace 139

These fears were hardly ficticious. One girl disclosed that she had been a member of the Kamajor and

former child soldiers from the RUF threatened her, leading her to flee the center.”, see Wessels, M.,

(2006), op cit, pp. 166 140

UNICEF, (2005), op cit, pp.16

36

“We were used as sex slaves. Whenever they wanted to have sexual intercourse with us,

they took us away forcefully and brought us back when they finished [...] Sometimes

other officers took us up as soon as we were being finished with...”141

The need of a facility that would provide shelter and protection for girls and their

dependants142

at the same time that allows access to formative actions and skills

building measures for income-generating activities, access to health services and time

for mediation with their families is usually neglected.

There is also usually a lack of female personnel to provide security and comfort. It has

been proved that the possibility of confide and get support from women working with

the organizations allows the victims to create a special relation with the Peacebuilding

forces, facilitates communication and increases the sense of security, and empowers

women in the community that regard them as an example for the future143

.

Although post-conflict societies are usually regarded as a momentum for reconstruction

and development of equality and human rights, this chance vanishes as the programmes

implemented are shaped by the profile of the beneficiaries that tend to be male

adolescents144

.

One of the first assumptions when implementing DDR policies is the faulty construction

of concepts. There is no equitable representation of population as women and girl roles’

141

Girl in Sierra Leone, in Denov, M., and Maclure, R., (2005), op cit 142

This situation though has to be implemented with extra care as the girls may find themselves released

from their obligation as mothers thus neglecting the babies and pursuing their own reintegration goals. In

UNICEF, (2005),op cit, pp. 17 143

United Nations Association in Canada, (N/A), Gender, Peacekeping and Peacebuilding, Role of

Women in Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding, http://www.unac.org/peacekeeping/en/un-peacekeeping/fact-

sheets/gender-peacekeeping-peacebuilding/, also see: UNRISD (2005b), Gender Equality: Striving for

Justice in an Unequal World - Section 4: Gender, armed conflict and the search for peace, Chapter 14 -

After conflict: Women, peace building and development, Policy Report on Gender and Development: 10

Years after Beijing, UNRISD/UN Publications - New York, Geneva, pp. 236

http://www.unrisd.org/80256B3C005BCCF9/httpNetITFramePDF?ReadForm&parentunid=F25ADAD33

05760DFC1256FB1004DE68A&parentdoctype=documentauxiliarypage&netitpath=80256B3C005BCCF

9/%28httpAuxPages%29/F25ADAD3305760DFC1256FB1004DE68A/$file/GE_16Chap14.pdf pp. 248 -

249 144

United Nations Association in Canada, (N/A), op cit

37

construction are still rooted in the gendered discourse and the ‘cultural sensitivity

discourse145

’ will dismiss the action of the international actors. Also military forces may

not register girls as soldiers and instead present them as next of keen of commanders.

Girls may decide to flee formal processes to avoid stigmatization when returning to

communities, or may not regard themselves as fulfilling the essential criteria to enrol on

these146

. Their voices are not listened to, their opinions disregarded and thus the new

programmes are based not on real testimony but on wrongly assembled lessons learned

from previous projects.

The first critique must fall into narrowness of the concept of ex-combatant147

. As well

as some definitions of child soldiers, which excluded supporters and dependants,

picturing them as boys in uniform and carrying a weapon, the concept of ex-combatants

categorize women and girls as non-combatants148

thus overlooking their needs and

driving them away from formal processes149

.

While the current definition may be sufficient when dealing with conventional military

forces150

, current understanding of guerrilla forces suggests that it may be inadequate.

Some take an active role in military activities without actually having carried guns (e.g.,

145

Handrahan, L., (2004), Conflict, Gender, Ethnicity and Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Special Issue on

Gender and Security, PRIO, SAGE Publications, vol. 35 (4), pp. 429 146

Verhey, B., (2004), op cit, pp.12 147

“Combatants could be narrowly defined as those who operate within a military structure and actively

engage in preparing for armed conflict or are actually using weapons”, on this check: MDRP Secretariat,

(January 2004), Position Paper: Targeting MDRP Assistance - Ex-Combatants and Other War-Affected

Populations, Multi-Country Demobilization and Reintegration Program, para. 5, pp.2,

http://www.mdrp.org/PDFs/targeting-paper.pdf, also on this subject check: Mckay, S., Mazurana, D.,

(2004), op cit 148

Important sides of a conflict may be hidden when women’s perspectives are lacking, thus conflict

analyses cannot be considered complete if they are based solely on information that fails to take account

of women’s points of view. 149

This is also right when regarding the definition of child soldiers that regards them as male youth, with

uniforms and carrying a gun. Although there has been a development in expanding this concept, the

mention to girls focuses mainly in supporters and sexual slaves as well as dependants. 150

Note that even on conventional military forces, men which main functions are administrative or

services related (cooks, stocking management…) and do not engage on frontline combat, are still viewed

as soldiers by their peers and the international community. This situation is not visible when we are

regarding women in these functions on contemporary conflicts or guerrilla forces.

38

cooks, porters, drivers, messengers, intelligence staff, fundraisers, etc.), or have done so

on a less regular basis, sharing their weapon with other members of a guerrilla force151

.

“I became a soldier and later a commander. My job was to mobilize soldiers and lead

them to fight152

”

Even when recognized as ex-combatants, female combatants are not perceived as a

threat to the same degree as men. As a result, it is not considered as important to target

them153

.

Female soldiers are believed to return to society and reintegrate by occupying the same

roles that they previously did. They are expected to go back to the patriarchal society

and occupy their previous pre-conflict gendered roles. For girl soldiers this is an even

more complicated situation. They broke out social norms, fled from the socially

constructed gendered roles that would integrate them in a ‘normalized’ society, they lost

the education provided for children and they are marked for life due to stigmatisation

and prejudice.

In addition, when assuming this self-reintegration possibility and the ‘normalization’ of

communities, DDR programmes also assume the existence of relatively peaceful

communities into which former child soldiers can reintegrate154

. This is though one of

the post-conflict fallacies. When girls and boys return they find the village in tatters,

151

This is an important issue as according to UNICEF (2005), op cit, pp. ix, “All that can be said with

certainty is that there was no such thing as the “child soldier” in Sierra Leone. Many children were drawn

into the ranks of the fighting forces to play roles not too dissimilar to peacetime: fetching water, cooking,

carrying loads and messages etc. Often these children were already a part of “camp life” as relatives of

soldiers in the Sierra Leone Army (SLA).” This preconceived view of child soldiers and combatants is a

barrier for the full integration of fighting forces and supports the institutionalization of discrimination. 152

Girl in Sierra Leone, in Denov, M., and Maclure, R., (2005), op cit 153

See Baden, 1997; Watteville, 2000 154

Wessels, M., (2006), op cit, 208

39

with its infrastructures destroyed and villages burnt. Many villages are little more than

shelters, with shattered communities that struggle to scrape a living from the land155

.

“People are rejecting me [...] They always remind me of joining the rebels. I want them

to accept me, to forgive me and allow me to be part of the community.156

”

Plus, many programmes are presented to the civil society as targeting “the [young] men

with guns157

”, which exclude female combatants that do not feel they belong or fulfil

the criteria to join formal processes158

. Many feel they cannot join DDR processes due

to misunderstandings on whether or not they need to hand in a weapon159

, which is

actually supported by the emphasis on the “disarmament and demobilization”

processes160

. Others feel the programmes are only created for men161

.

“...We had girls going to the Army. [... ] Demobilization in this country, [they just

talked]about the men162

.”

Commanders also claim girls are their “wives” or possessions and thus these are not

registered as [child] soldiers. Without the acknowledgement of their comrades many

remain “in the bush” and are never registered163

for any attempt of reintegration164

.

155

Kelly, A., Agony Without end for Liberia’s Child Soldiers, The Oberver, 12th

of July, 2009, pp. 32 -

33 156

Girl in Sierra Leone, in Denov, M., and Maclure, R., (2005), op cit 157

Department for Disarmament Affairs in collaboration with the Office of the Special Adviser on

Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, op cit, pp.1 158

More than 45% of former girl soldiers in Sierra Leone said they had not participated because they had

had no weapon to present, in Mazurana, D., and Carlson, K., (2004); Wessels, M., (2006), pp. 166 159

Verhey, B., (2004), op cit, pp.12 160

Verhey, B., (2004), op cit pp.13 161

When interviewed several girls indicated that their guns were taken away by their commanders and

were given to male fighters, or in some cases, sold to civilians who then reaped the financial benefits of

the DDR programme – interviewed girls in Sierra Leone in Denov, M., and Maclure, R., (2005), op cit 162

Girl in Mozambique, in Mckay, S., Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit 163

In a different perspective “perhaps some military officials overlook girls because they focus on the

terms and conceptions of “soldier” and “disarmament” as definitions of “child soldier” or DDR plans are

presented to them.”, in Verhey, B., (2004), op cit, pp. 12

40

Another misconception is related with the targeting for benefits. Singling out groups

and providing benefits can work against the goal of integrating them into the

community165

, especially when we take into consideration women and girls that were

integrated into armed forces or in some way represent the disruption of social norms.

Many girls are reluctant to go home for fear of rejection and stigmatisation due to their

involvement with the rebels and their history of sexual abuse. Girls who have children

with the rebels, or have been raped, feel they have no choice but to stay with their

“husbands” as that is their only option for survival166

as their ‘sexual behaviour’

disrupted the customs of society167

. They fear communities will not take them back as

they have not been taught ‘gendered responsibilities’ (i.e. in domestic chores,

understanding of community values etc.), risks of sexually transmitted diseases and they

worry about never being able to find a partner168

.

“Shame, they feel guilty… […] even their “husbands” are calling them names. […]

They go back to their homes […] and how are they going to find another man? The girls

need more help.169

”

“The communities were looking at these babies with disdain […] there are certain rites

that you should have gone through […] for you to have a baby.170

”

164

Verhey, B., (2004), op cit, pp.12 165

Barth, E.F., (2002), Peace as Disappointment : The Reintegration of Female Soldiers in Post-Conflict

Societies: A Comparative Study from Africa, Chapter II: Targetting, International Peace Research

Institute (PRIO), no pp. available, http://www.peacewomen.org/resources/DDR/AfricaBarth.html 166

UNICEF (2005), op cit 167

Verhey, B., (2004), op cit, pp. 15 168

UNICEF, (2005), op cit, pp. 16 169

Girl in Northern Uganda, Mckay, S., Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit 170

Christian Children’s Fund Staff in Sierra Leone, in Mckay, S., Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit

41

The acknowledgment of their situation by the overall community as they integrate the

formal DDR processes may increase their stigmatisation as well as bring shame to their

family and thus increase the violence they will suffer in future. Girls that ‘joined’

military forces have reversed the society norms by taking up roles reserved for boys and

men. This stigma due to patriarchal norms also discourages women and girls to

participate in formal DDR programmes, preferring instead to self-reintegrate171

as a way

of protecting their previous identity172

.

“...a lot of their strategy is secrecy. They slink back home and don’t want anyone to

know what happened to them173

.”

When self-reintegration occur girls’ future remains obscured and several unaddressed

questions are left unanswered. Will they receive the assistance needed to return to

society as functioning civilians, mothers, and wives or either will they still be

stigmatized and submitted to amplified patriarchal norms in order to control the

empowering of women? Will they be accepted and treated with respect? Will they be

able to navigate through training courses and education to jobs that allow them to earn a

decent living or will they be placed on the fringes of society and forced to survive on

charity and illicit activities?

Other socio-cultural obstacles arise, as communities are afraid of reintegrating children

that might be prone to violence, but are even less willing to tolerate such behaviour

171

ILO, Department of Communication and Public Information (DCOMM), (August 2005), Girl-

combatants: Women warriors fight their way back into Liberian society, World of Work Magazine No.

54, pp. 8 – 11

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---

dcomm/documents/publication/dwcms_080601.pdf 172

UNICEF, (2005), op cit, pp. 14 173

Girl in Northern Uganda, in Mckay, S., Mazurana, D. (2004), op cit

42

from girls174

. This idea inspires fear and prejudice especially as children transgressed

the traditional concept of obedient and submissive to engage in most of the violence,

killing and pillage during the war (situation mainly explained by their positioning in the

lower ranks of the military structure)175

.

“They say we are bad girls because of what we did in the war and what we do now.176

”

It is important to note that not all the communities regard girls as innocent victims of

the conflict. Instead there is a perception that girls joined armed forces for benefits – as

wives of commanders e.g. – and their targeting as DDR beneficiaries raises questions

among the communities of legitimacy and fairness of the programmes. For example, the

access to the pillage of goods during war is believed to have benefited the girls (and

boys) and thus the access to some more ‘privileges’ during the programmes is

understood as unfair by the communities that picture themselves as the only victims.

As a result of the exclusion from DDR programmes, girls experienced self-

reintegration177

being forced to return to their (or new) communities or to camps of

internally displaced persons (IDPs) or refugees178

looking for support. Without the

support mechanisms girls are under challenging circumstances to meet theirs and their

children’s needs179

. By downplaying the roles of girl soldiers during the conflict period,

DDR programmes extended the gender-based insecurity and power ratio into the post-

conflict period180

.

174

Verhey, B., (2004), op cit, pp. 14 175

Verhey, B., (2004), op cit, pp. 14 176

Girl in Liberia, in Kelly, A., (2009), Agony without end for Liberia’s Child Soldiers, The Observer,

12th

July, 2009, pp. 32 - 33 177

Mckay, S., Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit, pp. 35 178

Mckay, S., Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit 179

Mckay, S., Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit 180

Mckay, S., Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit

43

3.4 Conclusion

Since early 1990s Peacebuilding and DDR programmes have become part of the

reconstruction of countries emerging from a violent conflict such as Sierra Leone,

Liberia, Angola and it is now underway in several others. The results have been mixed

as the responsible agencies for designing and implementing them are still developing

the best practice.

Although the need of a holistic approach to Peacebuilding and DDR has been

recognized and advocated there are several challenges involved. The use of ambiguous

notions and concepts, the short-term frame for implementation, the large number of

actors and the insufficient funding for the long-term reintegration are all sets of

processes that obstruct the positive feedback of the wider peace process181

.

For more than a decade now, the United Nations has declared that women and girls’

needs deserve greater attention in the post-war context. Yet the problems, rights abuses

and programme shortcomings documented in many reports remain commonplace182

.

We have seen that a singular focus on situations of victimization tends to oversimplify

the complexity of girls’ experience and the analysis of the conflict. This also represents

the exclusion of a large proportion of the society and a step for the creation of instability

among the populations as well as the creation of ‘spoilers’ for the future of the peace

agreement. It is critical to also recognize that girls may participate in violence, as well

as actively resist and attempt to subvert structures of violence.

181

Kilroy, W., (N/A), op cit, pp. 3 182

UNRISD (2005b), Gender Equality: Striving for Justice in an Unequal World - Section 4: Gender,

armed conflict and the search for peace, Chapter 14 - After conflict: Women,

peace building and development, Policy Report on Gender and Development: 10 Years after Beijing,

UNRISD/UN Publications - New York, Geneva, pp. 252

http://www.unrisd.org/80256B3C005BCCF9/httpNetITFramePDF?ReadForm&parentunid=F25ADAD33

05760DFC1256FB1004DE68A&parentdoctype=documentauxiliarypage&netitpath=80256B3C005BCCF

9/%28httpAuxPages%29/F25ADAD3305760DFC1256FB1004DE68A/$file/GE_16Chap14.pdf

44

The construction of a society intended to respect Human Rights, based on equality and

democracy and determined to achieve sustainable peace and security has to include all

the members of the community. Post-war policies need to focus on lessons from a

gender analysis of the processes of economic, social and political development,

although they are bound to vary from one context to another183

.

In future, girls must not be let down by the two main parties responsible for their

protection: families and communities and, in a wider perspective, the international

community and governments.

183

UNRISD (2005b), op cit, pp. 236

45

4 What happens to Girl Soldiers in the Post-Conflict?

4.1 Gender Backlash

Wars tend to exacerbate the gender inequalities that exist previous to the disruption of

armed struggle and thus it is ‘normal’ that the patriarchal society may find its way to the

battlefield. Daily routines are then built into the male hierarchical power relation and

sustained by threats, brutality and increased violence184

.

The term post-conflict refers to a period when male combatants have ceased to engage

in war. This happens as conflict is still perceived as a male function and thus the end of

violence is related to the end of the ‘formal’ period of fighting185

. The general

perception is that with the cease-fire come the peace and thus the violence that remains

and threats the security of girls and women becomes invisible and is accepted as the

norm186

.

What happens to women when war ends is usually strongly connected with what

happened to them during the war and with the nature of gender relations before

conflict187

. The striking issue is that even though there is a comprehensive body of

work188

focused on this subject, international development agencies regularly ignore

gender189

when designing and implementing post-conflict programmes. Thus in every

184

Denov, M., (N/A), Girls in Fighting Forces: Moving beyond Victimhood, A Summary of the Research

Findings on Girls and Armed Conflict from CIDA’s Child Protection Fund, pp.11 185

Handrahan, L., (2004), op cit, pp. 429 186

Handrahan, L., (2004), op cit , pp. 430 187

Pankhurst, D., (ed), (2008), Introduction: Gendered War and Peace, in Gendered Peace – Women’s

Struggles for Port-War Justice and reconciliation, United Nations research Institute for Social

Development (UNRISD), Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group: New York 188

See for example Elshtain (1987), Enloe (1983, 1989, 2000), Byrne (1985), Moser and Clark (2001),

Vickers (1993) and for reviews of literature see, for example, El Jack (2003), Bouta and Frerks (2002) 189

I adopt the following explanation of gender and gender roles from Women, Peace and Security (UN

2002): “ Gender refers to the socially constructed roles as ascribed to women and men, as opposed to

biological and physical characteristics. Gender roles vary according to socio-economic, political and

cultural contexts, and are affected by other factors including age, race, class and ethnicity. Gender roles

are learned and are changeable. Gender equality is agoal to ensure equal rights, responsabilities and

opportunities of women, men, girls and boys”, United Nations Security Council Resolution, (2000),

46

society, home, war zone and refugee camp, violence is widespread and resists the

divisions of war and peace190

. If there ever was a division between the warfront and the

civilian facilities, this division is now eroded191

.

The accumulation of violence (the continued and the new), and the attacks on the new

gained women’s rights and behaviours, amounts to what is generally called a post-war

backlash192

. Two elements seem to be common to most of the contexts where this

concept applies: an “anti-women” discourse characterised by restrictions on social,

economic and political options; and a continuum of violence which continues above the

level of pre-conflict and sometimes increases193

. It is also usually accompanied by

imagery of cultural notions of “tradition”, motherhood and peace194

in opposition to the

“male” roles and the disruption of social norms women and girls assumed during the

conflict period.

As a consequence, several actors will try to intervene in the “gender politics195

” ranging

from families to communities, from the state to the international community.

The end of the conflict brings to girls and women the stigmatisation and exclusion from

their society - that discards them due to the dishonouring of social and cultural norms.

This is especially true for female combatants that will have less space to challenge the

gender relations than they did during war196

.

Women, Peace and Security, pp.4

http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N00/720/18/PDF/N0072018.pdf?OpenElement 190

Giles, W., Hyndman, J., (2004), Introduction: Gender and Conflict in a Global Context, in Sites of

Violence – Gender and Conflict zones, University of California Press, pp., 3, also check: UNRISD

(2005b), op cit, pp. 236 191

UNRISD (2005b), op cit, pp. 238 192

Pankhurst, D., (2006), op cit, pp. 3 193

Pankhurst, D., (2006), op cit, pp. 3 194

Turshen, M., (2001), Engendering relations of State to Society in the Aftermath”, in Meintjes, S.,

Pillay, A., Turshen, M., (eds), The Aftermath, Women in Post-Conflict Transformation, Zed Books,

London, pp. 80 195

Pankhurst, D., (2006), op cit, pp. 4 196

UNRISD, (2005b), op cit, pp. 240

47

This situation will disrupt the community – deprived from part of its future citizens –

and it will represent an increase in gender-based violence as the ‘re-normalization’ of

the society tends to carry an opposition to the girls and their new roles197

.

The state tends to be associated with this process by imposing legal or social

restrictions, failing to provide security and protection and marginalizing girls and

women’s needs. They are then excluded by the international community due to

preconceived ideas198

that marginalize female contributions to the war-effort and fail to

promote their interests in order to preserve the “cultural sensitivity199

” of the

programmes200

.

Facing such challenges women and girls tend to prioritize the restoration of peaceful

relationships instead of increasing their security risks201

.

4.2 Girls Backlash and its effects in the society

There is a fundamental lack of academic background regarding girl soldiers, their roles,

experiences and reintegration, and post-conflict backlash, even when regarding the

feminist literature202

.

According to Fox, this “gendered oversight” is related to the fact that girl soldiers’ topic

are first a child-protection issue and can only be linked to feminist theories in a limited

197

Denov, M., (N/A), op cit, pp. 12 198

Denov, M., (N/A), op cit, pp. 11 - 12 199

Studies and gendered analysis of post-war situations in Yugoslavia, sub-Saharan Africa, Cambodia,

East Timor, Colombia and elsewhere show that women endure a continuation of violence even when

there is foreign intervention. – in UNRISD (2005b), op cit, pp. 237, 238 200

Pankhurst, D., (2006), op cit, pp. 5 201

UNRISD, (2005b), op cit, pp. 241 202

Even though there is an increase of attention regarding this topic, please check (e.g): Denov, M., and

Maclure, R., (2005), Fox, M., (2004), Kays, L., (2005), Keairns, Y.,( 2002), Mazurana, D., McKay, S.,

(2001), Mazurana, D., and McKay, S., (2005), Mazurana, D, McKay, S., Carlson, K., Kasper, J.,(2002),

McKay, S., and Mazurana, D., (2000), McKay, S. , (2004), McKay, S., and Mazurana, D., (2004), Save

the Children, (2003) Save the Children, (2005), UNICEF, (2005), Verhey, B., (2004)

48

way203

. Girls experiences should then be regarded as distinct from those of women and

be regarded in a “gendered girlhood204

” perspective, that would take into account the

need to involve different actors addressing both the needs of children and women.

As stated on the previous chapter, girl soldiers’ roles are mainly regarded as an

extension of women’s domestic tasks in society. Even when involved with the armed

forces they are labelled as supporters, non-combatants or “camp followers” and hence

unworthy of remuneration and not significant enough to qualify for training and

livelihoods programmes205

. Such analyses give very little insight into girls’ experiences

in the aftermath of war and of their specific needs as female and child, having

tremendous repercussions on the sustainability of peace and society.

The effects of excluding girls from a post-conflict society reconstruction may range

from the crippling of the community structure, to the continuity of violence and

inability to heal, to the collapse of institutions.

“The war broke the bonds between children and their parents and extended families.

Those who fought as soldiers are now treated as pariahs and this stigma goes all the

way up the chain from village level up to local and central government206

.”

Like women, girls tend to be stigmatized from the communities due to the break of

social norms and dishonouring of family members. They suffer rejection as a result of

203

Fox, M., (2004), Girl soldiers: Human security and gendered insecurity. Security Dialogue, 35, no. 4,

pp. 470 204

Mckay, S., (2006), Girlhoods Stolen: The Plight of Girl Soldiers During and After Armed Conflict,

http://protection.unsudanig.org/data/child/international_experience/McKay.%20Girlhoods%20Stolen.%2

02006.doc , pp. 118 205

Mckay, S., (2006), op cit, pp. 118 206

Counsellor at Plan’s child soldier support programmes in Lofa, Liberia, in Kelly, A., Agony Without

end for Liberia’s Child Soldiers, The Oberver, 12th

of July, 2009, pp. 32 - 33

49

their association with armed groups but also because they were victims of sexual

violence207

.

The exclusion of girls from the community structure disrupts the civil society from the

inside and has long-term effects. Girls are labelled as “damaged goods” and thus

unmarriageable. Due to the position of women in the society this means the loss of

status and protection as well as an economic burden. Killings and domestic violence are

seen as ‘normal’, regarded as a way of regaining honor and respect. This continuum of

violence is not seen as a continuation of war; hence individuals tend to be endlessly

victimized and reintegration delayed208

.

Children born of rape are also a marginalized group with severe implications.

Abandoned by their communities and sometimes even by their family, they are

impoverished, powerless and helpless209

. This raises important questions related to the

worst forms of child labour stated by the Convention 182 of the International Labour

Organization that should also be taken into account when regarding the effects of

exclusion in societies.

For the society, the loss of these two vulnerable groups represents the destruction of the

social tissue of several generations to come with severe repercussions in the medium-

and long-term, while simultaneously causing further strain in the demographic

development of a country.

The immediate post-conflict scenario is also a period when most of the infrastructures

of a country are severely diminished or even non-existent and thus the state is unable to

promote the needs of its population. The lack of hospitals, schools, the destruction of

the economic structure, all extend the breakdown of services.

207

Denov, M., (N/A), op cit, pp. 22 208

Clifford, C., (2008), Rape as a weapon of war and its long-term effects in the society, 7th Global

Conference Violence and the Contexts of Hostility, Monday 5th May - Wednesday 7th May 2008

Budapest, Hungary, http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/ptb/hhv/vcce/vch7/Clifford%20paper.pdf 209

Clifford, C., (2008), op cit

50

Girls returning from the frontline suffer physical and psychological210

distress related to

their experiences211

. From the available studies212

, the most common complaints

included chronic head and stomach aches, problems from war-related wounds and

beatings, malaria, tuberculosis, cholera, diarrhoea, parasitic infections and malnutrition,

anguish, flashbacks and shame, as well as sexually transmitted diseases like

HIV/AIDS213

due to war-time sexual violence. Many present serious injuries from

childbearing and gynaecological problems214

.

“Girls have been raped and this has resulted in HIV/AIDS.215

”

“The girls when captured are made wives and if the girl is not yet of age they get

damaged216

.”

“I feel depressed most of the time […] I just think of ending my life217

”

210

Interviews conducted in Sierra Leone reported that 70% of the girls and 80% of the boys were at

serious risk of suicide, with 30% of children interviewed having already attempted suicide at least once,

in Kelly, A., Agony Without end for Liberia’s Child Soldiers, The Oberver, 12th

of July, 2009, pp. 32 - 33 211

Interviews conducted with child soldiers across Liberia concluded that 60% had witnessed another

child being beaten to death, 87% had seen a family member killed and 84% had found themselves

“surrounded by, lying underneath or stepping on dead bodies”, in Kelly, A., Agony Without end for

Liberia’s Child Soldiers, The Oberver, 12th

of July, 2009, pp. 32 - 33 212

Please see: Mckay, S., Mazurana, D., (2004), Denov, M., Maclure, R., (2005) and Stavrou,V., (2005) 213

Denov, M., (N/A), op cit, pp. 20 214

In Sierra Leone, girls associated with RUF reported that “one technique to initiate childbirth involved

jumping on a girl’s pregnant belly, while to postpone birth, some girls had their legs bound.” In Denov,

M., Maclure, R., (2005), op cit, pp. 20 215

Girl in Rwanda, UNICEF, (2007), UNICEF, (2007), Will you Listen – Young Voices from Conflict

Zones, compiled and edited by Vidar Ekehaug from the Global Youth Action Network (GYAN) and

Chernor Bah, Special Youth Fellow at UNFPA, in Children and Conflict in a Changing World – Machel

Study 10 year Strategic Review 216

Boy in Sierra Leone, UNICEF, (2007), op cit 217

Girl in Angola, in Denov, M., Maclure, R., (2005), op cit

51

Child soldiers also lose important years of education and development, especially in the

case of protracted conflicts. At the end of the formal period of violence girls and boys

will have no skills beyond those they acquired in fighting or surviving in conflict.

Still, according to a UNICEF218

report, girls continue to be the least educated section of

population in most developing countries. Education is fundamental for encouraging

stability and normalcy in the lives of children219

as well as preparing them for fully

assuming its citizenship in a society. The disadvantageous positions in which girls are

placed when they lose their formative years will thus have serious impacts in their

integration in the future economy. Many will assume primary provider positions at the

end of the war, as they are orphaned, widowed or simply excluded and need to meet

their needs.

“After we resettled it is more common for the girls to have to help out with the family

and have less time for play and schooling220

”

“[Girls] also can’t attend schools due to some family restrictions. The male members of

the family think that if girls go to school it is a shame for us and what will people think

of us221

!”

“The war had a very negative effect on our life. I lost my father during the fighting and

we were displaced. My father was the supporter of our family and after losing him we

218

UNICEF. (2005, February) The impact of conflict on women and girls in west and central Africa and

the UNICEF response. New York: UNICEF 219

Denov, M., (N/A), op cit, pp. 20 220

Girl in Sri Lanka, UNICEF, (2007), op cit 221

Girl in Afghanistan, UNICEF, (2007), op cit

52

felt we had lost everything. I could not go to school after that and my education is still

incomplete.222

”

Without the adequate facilities and services girls will be on the fringes of the society

and amongst the most disadvantaged as the lack of education and skills will also limit

their access to employment. Accustomed to societal warfare as the only society they

know, girls may be unable to reintegrate and represent a source of cheap labour, prone

to be exploited. These conditions provide an excellent ground for the exponential

growth of parallel societies and markets. Facing community ostracism, exclusion from

the reintegration programmes, lack of support from the government and presenting few

educational and marketable skills, girls tend to be part of the post-conflict cycles of

poverty223

and to contribute to the development of parallel economies.

In any of the studies224

mentioned, none of the girls were employed in the formal sector,

thus for their income they were involved in small trading and agricultural labour,

prostitution, small crime and drug use in order to cope and survive in the post-war

period.

“Children and young people are turned into thieves225

”

“It should be remembered that many of us are involved in crime and in violence to help

our families. There are still no alternatives for us226

.”

222

Girl in Afghanistan, UNICEF, (2007), op cit 223

Denov, M., (N/A), op cit, pp. 23 224

Please see: Mckay, S., Mazurana, D., (2004), Denov, M., Maclure, R., (2005) and Stavrou,V., (2005) 225

Girl in Colombia, UNICEF, (2007), op cit 226

Girl in Haiti, UNICEF, (2007), op cit

53

“My sister is only 15 years old but every night she goes out to have sex with

humanitarian workers and peacekeepers for money. […] We all rely on the money she

gets to support the family227

.”

“Many girls find themselves in the street going into prostitution, because of poverty.228

”

4.2.1 Post-Conflict Disillusionment

“Armed conflict [may be] finished, but we still have other types of wars – poverty,

illiteracy, unemployment, youth delinquency and many more.229

”

The end of conflict brings expectations on the improvement of peoples’ lives.

Nonetheless girls’ post-conflict experience can be very different.

Girls are usually confronted with the disruption of society, lack of basic services and

support, and the need to built “new civilian identities”230

independent from the military

skills and rather reliant on factors that are in need when war ends231

. Also, there is a

need to assimilate norms and institutions from which they have been absent and forge

new relationships, sometimes in a climate of general discomfort and suspicion.

As a result, peace tends to be regarded as disappointing picturing marginalization and

loss of hope as well as mounting frustration232

and growing aggression. While men and

boys tend to be regarded as security risks in post-conflict situations, girls responding to

227

Boy in Liberia, UNICEF, (2007), op cit 228

Girl in Burundi, UNICEF, (2007), op cit 229

Girl in Angola, UNICEF, (2007), op cit 230

Denov, M., (N/A), op cit, pp. 24 231

Denov, M., (N/A), op cit, pp. 24 232

Denov, M., (N/A), op cit, pp. 24

54

the challenges they are faced with may tend to react in a violent way and transfer those

feelings to their children – thus increasing the alienation of both.

The challenges girls face in post-war societies are numerous and appear to affect diverse

aspects of their lives as well as the rebuilt of a sustainable peace and community. The

“re-victimization” is most apparent in the socio-economic marginalization and

exclusion, ongoing threats to their health and security noticeable in the little

opportunities they are left with.

“The situation that is faced by many of these children is desperate. The majority [...] of

the girls are forced into transational sex. Many are living alone, they are on drugs, they

cannot go to school and this is the generation which is supposed to be leading our

country out of poverty and into a better future.233

”

The fact that in most countries experiencing the curse of child soldiering the discourses

and complaints of former girl soldiers are similar, is suggestive that the end of conflict

and violence and the implementation of DDR and other post-conflict programmes have

not meant an end to insecurity and violence, rather creating a ‘gendered negative

peace234

’.

4.3 A different path

The struggle of the communities to cope with long protracted conflicts is far greater

than the Peacebuilding processes are able to address. Usually implemented for a short

period of time, these processes are ineffective when stressing the long-term aims of

reconstruction.

233

Counsellor at Plan’s child soldier support programmes in Lofa, Liberia, in Kelly, A., Agony Without

end for Liberia’s Child Soldiers, The Oberver, 12th

of July, 2009, pp. 32 - 33 234

On the concepts of negative and positive peace please see the work of Johan Galtung.

55

Although family reunification is one of the priorities of Children’s DDR processes, it

usually lacks the emphasis in the healing of stigma and marginalization that children

will still have to face when returning. Without this process, girls return to be tormented

and excluded from the community activities and culture.

Girls need to regain memories of the civilian life to cut off their past of association with

armed forces and re-establish community trust. They need to be (re)taught on choosing

the path of non-conflict when facing decisions and obstacles235

. But communities also

need to transform the vast war experiences girls suffered to be able to reintegrate them.

NGOs and Peacebuilding institutions should thus research onto the cultural

manifestations of self-healing structures within the arrival-societies in order to include

them in their projects. These structures are in fact the essential ‘normalization’

procedures required to accommodate both the needs of self-belonging of girls (while

making them feel valuable) and the needs of re-assimilation without which the society

will not be able to function.

“We are not like other girls, because we were taken in the bush. Our minds are not

steady [...]. People call us bad names and do not accept us. [...] How can they do that?

We worry about where we will get money to live and feed our babies. Our hearts are

heavy even after the war.236

”

The international community must be able to include non-formal procedures of self-

healing that will address the needs of the communities and the individuals, taking into

consideration the national and local dimensions of the receptive cultures. Without these

235

Wessels, M., (2006), op cit, pp. 191-194 236

Wessels, M., (2006), op cit, pp. 195

56

any procedure implemented will be seen as an imposition unable to understand the

cultural aspects of communities.

The acceptance of different values is the first step for the creation of common ground

that will precipitate transformation and social change.

This is not to say though that arguments of “culture sensitivity” can be used to promote

inequalities and negation of rights. Instead, different paths are instigated to solve

conflicts and address issues that are able to incorporate different perspectives and lay

ground for the future.

4.3.1 Community Sensitization

A question is raised by Mckay and Mazurana in Where are the girls?237

, regarding the

involvement of local communities and grassroots levels in accepting and working with

girls returning from the warfront.

This is an important approach which can easily be related to Lederach’s model of

conflict resolution and conflict transformation levels238

according to which the emphasis

of Peacebuilding should be on a ‘bottom-up’ process and the suggestion that the middle

level should serve as a link for the other two239

. This represents a shift from regarding

conflict resolution as a primary responsibility of external third-parties towards

appreciating the possibilities ‘indigenous’ peacemakers are able to bring due to their

knowledge of the society from within240

. This way different actors from the state level

and elites, to middle level leaders (NGOs and problem solving workshops) and

grassroots local institutions would be linked and working on addressing the root causes

237

Mckay, S., Mazurana, D., op cit, pp 41 238

Lederach, J., (1997), Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies, Washington,

DC: United States Institute of Peace 239

Ramsbotham, O., Woodhouse, T., Miall, H., (2005), Contemporary Conflict Resolution, The

Prevention, Management and transformation of Deadly Conflicts, Cambridge: Polity Press, pp. 21 240

Ramsbotham, O., Woodhouse, T., Miall, H., (2005), op cit, pp. 23-24

57

of conflict in a long-term perspective, while focusing on the short-term dilemmas of

post war.

The weight of this predicament resides on the need to ‘build bridges’ among

communities and individuals learning from domestic cultures on how to manage

conflict and working on a solution together with the population241

.

In this context all the essential actors for different Peacebuilding approaches, would

encompass the significant processes and contribute to the development of sustainable

peace. Hence, conflict transformation would be a positive dynamic process operating

simultaneously at different levels in the civil society, in the same sense that

contemporary conflicts negatively affect those same levels.

This perspective is significant when thinking of the girls’ exclusion and marginalization

in the context of DDR processes and in the long-term from society. Considering the

girls who bypass the formal processes of reintegration, more attempts should be made to

engage with micro-actors and smaller integration nucleons in raising ‘community

sensitization’ to receive and understand girls returning from the warfront as well as

educating them about children’s rights242

.

Of course this stress upon sensitization does not mean a widely embraced concept by

the communities and does not translate in their effective introduction in the society or in

the reintegration of vulnerable groups without further setbacks. It does represent though

an effort in combating the animosity communities feel towards girls that ‘violated’ their

pre-established culture and an effort in diminishing the marginalization of girls.

As no ‘standard community dialogue’ exists, this community awareness can also be

extended to sexually abused children as well as girls returning with babies. Although

generally the message is focused on the abduction of children and on their forcefully (or

241

Ramsbotham, O., Woodhouse, T., Miall, H., (2005), op cit, pp. 24 242

Mckay, S., Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit, pp. 41

58

drugged) involvement with armed forces243

, several other messages can be incorporated

in order for the girls to be regarded as victims of a major violent conflict that disrupted

the society and from which, in the larger picture, the whole civilian community was

victimized.

It is important to note though that the way ‘sensitization’ is carried is an important

factor for its relevance and acceptance among communities. These talks should not

include a list or be an imposition of customary westernized norms244

and instead should

be adapted to the cultural traditions that are able to support a nucleon of non-derogable

rights.

4.3.2 Rituals, Spiritual Cleansing and Religious Ceremonies

Several rituals and community ceremonies are used as a way of ‘healing’ and

facilitating the reintegration of girls formerly associated with armed forces. According

to Mckay and Mazurana, they may combine “traditional and religious practices, or

they may mix religious practices such as praying, songs and dances [and be] conducted

by religious leaders, traditional healers, traditional leaders or a combination245

.”

In contrast to western views on counselling, former child soldiers often refer as impure

or unclean and in need to see a healer able to clean their spirit from the impurities

gained during the war period246

.

This is an issue that affects not only the child but also the whole community. Unable to

protect their children from the atrocities of war, local people view the spiritual impurity

243

Mckay, S., Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit, pp. 42 244

Wessels, M., (2006), op cit, pp. 194-195 245

Mckay S., Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit, pp. 47 246

Wessels, M., (2006), pp. 194

59

as a collective threat247

. In the same sense the international community establishes Truth

and Reconciliation Courts to address the “wounds of war” of a society.

The World Health Organization on a report on mental health in emergencies includes a

recommendation to “encourage the re-establishment of normal cultural and religious

events” as a way of supporting the ‘normalization’ of disrupted communities as well as

supporting the reintegration and “state of mind” of victims of war. This return to

normalcy gives the girls a sense of belonging to the community and acceptance by their

peers as well as a realization that they are forgiven for their actions248

and regained their

identity as civilians249

.

The value of local healing presents communities as able to act to increase the conflict

transformation potential of the society, instead of the general understanding of

impotency and being entirely reliant on external support250

.

Rituals are also used by NGOs as a way of creating a relation between children’s rights

and community values. By introducing the concepts in the ceremonies and consequently

laying the groundwork for the inclusion, NGOs will be able to empower girls through

the implementation of ‘training’ and education strategies adapted to the needs of the

society. Without these ‘cleansing’ rituals girls would still be marginalized and left aside

the rebuilding of the society even if able to perform better in certain areas. Hence,

acceptance and inclusion must come from both parties: the girls and the communities.

247

Wessels, M., (2006), op cit, pp. 194-195 248

Mckay, S., Mazurana, D., (2004), op cit, pp. 48 249

Wessels, M., (2006), op cit, pp. 196 250

Wessels, M., (2006), op cit, pp. 197

60

5 Conclusion: Where is the ‘Post’ in Post-Conflict? Where is the ‘Re’ in Reconstruction?

After war, female participation in war related-work can be neglected as stereotypical

notions of gender-appropriate behaviour are remobilized in order to allow the society to

“normalize”251

.

Girls who challenged the patriarchal society and oppose to its re-imposition due to roles

assumed in the past are vilified and those who participated in combat are more often

than not now objects of shame252

. The exclusion on female soldiers from DDR and

other reintegration processes thus presents an increased discrimination, as these are

most likely to be more marginalized than other women in the reconstruction of the

society253

.

As noted by Ulf Kristofferson, Humanitarian Coordinator of the Joint United Nations

(UN) Program on HIV/AIDS, “Whether it is economic security, food security, health

security, personal or political security, women and young girls are affected in a very

specific way due to their physical, emotional and material differences and due to the

important social, economic, and political inequalities existing between women and

men.254

”

When the Peacebuilding process does not address and highlights the experiences of

female combatants and supporters as different from those of male combatants, the

instruments implemented to demobilize and reintegrate former combatants into

communities are likely to assume and reinforce the reconstruction of society without

regarding the alteration of roles, positions and status of women. Thus ‘re-construction’

251

Verhey, B., (2004), op cit, pp. 7 252

Verhey, B., (2004), op cit, pp. 7 253

Verhey, B., (2004), op cit, pp. 7, also see: Chinkin, C., (2004), Gender, International Legal

Framework and Peacebuilding, Gender and Peacebuilding in Africa, Training for Peace, Norsk

Utenrikspolitisk Institute, pp. 32, 33, 34 254

Mckay, S., (2004), op cit, pp. 154

61

may denote a return to the Past instead of the rehabilitation of societies and sustainable

peace.

There can be no assumption that violence ends with the cessation of conflict or with the

formal ceasefire. The forms and spaces of gendered violence may change, but violence

against girls is likely to continue. The collapse of civilian structures, the proximity to

the violence mentality and the continuation of a culture of lawlessness and impunity

increased by the widespread availability of small arms, unemployment and economic

insecurity all contribute to the proneness of violence within a certain community255

.

The demobilised former combatants (mostly, if not only, male) conflicting with the

adversities of a society under construction represent a boost of frustration and insecurity

most of the times directed to women and girls, which excluded from formal

programmes and stigmatized in the communities remain with no ‘security net’ and are

forced to return to their previous positions, struggling now with their own war-trauma,

fragile relations with family members and children fruit of rape and forced marriage and

disrupted societies256

.

Substantial efforts must be implemented when regarding the position of the vulnerable

groups inside a society (among them women and children – girls and boys) looking to

provide for their basic needs and focusing on the areas most evidenced by the studies

currently available. Education, employment opportunities and health services, family

reunification, counselling and community sensitization are some of the areas in which

the new programmes must be focusing.

255

Mckay, S. (2004), op cit, pp. 155, 156 256

Verhey, B. (2004), op cit

62

6 Conclusion

The issue of child soldiering has been presented as mainly a male phenomenon either by

the scholarly institutions or by the extreme focus of media on boys with guns and

uniforms. This image soon became the norm and tended to exclude the 12,000 girls

estimated to be associated with military forces.

Mostly seen as ‘wives’, ‘daughters’, and ‘sexual slaves’, girls are incorporated on the

large group of camp followers and their experiences and roles during the conflict are

neglected and invisible to the international relations mainstreaming.

It is critical to challenge the portrayal of girls as merely silent victims in order to come

across the overall picture of a conflict. The fact that girls are not only women and not

only children, not only victims or perpetrators, and not regarded as a ‘security risk’ in

the implementation of a sustainable peace influences the “double forgetfulness” they are

consigned to.

As noted by Ulf Kristofferson, Humanitarian Coordinator of the Joint United Nations

(UN) Program on HIV/AIDS, “Whether it is economic security, food security, health

security, personal or political security, women and young girls are affected in a very

specific way due to their physical, emotional and material differences and due to the

important social, economic, and political inequalities existing between women and

men.257

”

In this sense there is an important research area to be addressed regarding the concepts

and definitions used in academia that, used without any gendered concern, may

undermine a significant part of the analysis of conflict and render undetectable the

positions, roles and perceptions of girls. Concepts like ‘child soldiering’, ‘ex-

257

Mckay, S., (2004), op cit, pp. 154

63

combatants’ and ‘camp followers’ need to be revised in order to include a gender

perspective.

There is a need for an alternative approach and vision to the ways girls are represented

and conceptualized. It is essential to direct the attention to their resilience, skills and

survival and their voices must be heard rather than made peripheral and rendered

invisible.

There can be no assumption that violence ends with the cessation of conflict or with the

formal ceasefire. The forms and spaces of gendered violence may change, but violence

against girls is likely to continue. The collapse of civilian structures, the proximity to

the violence mentality and the continuation of a culture of lawlessness and impunity

increased by the widespread availability of small arms, unemployment and economic

insecurity all contribute to the proneness of violence within a certain community258

.

With the ‘normalization’ of the social order, the female involvement in war related-

work is understood as a dispute to the patriarchal society and to its re-imposition. Girls

are vilified and face several setbacks in reintegration which in the long-term the

communities need to address if sustainable peace is to be achieved. This will also turn

into an impasse when socio-economic factors need to be tackled.

A holistic approach to Peacebuilding and DDR is thus one of the main processes for

addressing one community as a whole in order to integrate all its elements and diminish

the number of excluded sectors.

The use of ambiguous notions and concepts, the short-term frame for implementation,

the large number of actors and the insufficient funding for the long-term reintegration

are all sets of processes that obstruct the positive feedback of the wider peace process

and undermine the reconstruction of the society.

258

Mckay, S. (2004), pp. 155, 156

64

It is important to address this problematique as several questions remain unanswered

without regarding the period before, during and after war on a gendered perspective.

What happens to girls after war; what are the socio-economic consequences of their

exclusion; and how DDR processes are able to promote gender equality; are some of the

areas to which little research has been devoted and that influence the outcome of the

peace processes. When overlooked, societies may be unable to cope with the root causes

of post-conflict frustration, anger and insecurity, as well as be imperil of developing

parallel economies.

There must be an increased attention to education and employment opportunities, health

services, counselling, family reunification and community sensitization in order to deal

with the core areas of societal change all mentioned as an obstacle in the girls’

narratives.

Thus, the goal of a Peacebuilding process must be societal change intended to create

positive changes in girls’ status guaranteeing full citizenship, social justice and

empowerment based on standards of human dignity and human rights which cannot be

reached without listening to women and girls’ needs and priorities259

, rather than restore

a position previous to conflict.

Without these concerns Peacebuilding processes tend to widen gender inequalities that

run the risk of compromising the achievement of sustainable peace260

.

Another important sector to focus our attention is intimately connected with the

evidenced exclusion of girl soldiers from the formal peacebuilding reconstruction. As

several narratives have shown, girls tend to self-reintegrate looking to escape the stigma

placed upon female combatants. Hence another disregarded area is related to the

259

Ibidem 260

Department for Disarmament Affairs in collaboration with the Office of the Special Adviser on

Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, pp.1

65

informal processes available that allow girls to overcome their past and be included as

valuable member in the arrival-communities. Will they receive the assistance needed to

return as functioning civilians and citizens, mothers and wives; will they be accepted

and treated with respect; will they have access to education and jobs that will enable

them to earn a decent living?

Taking into consideration the exclusion of girls and the hazardous effects this situation

may have in the long run, Peacebuilding programmes should thus be able to adapt their

methods to the society and beneficiaries to address. It has been proved more than once

that programmes standardization has created very different results from one country to

the other, hence the need of a research on the aspects that make a cultural manifestation

unique and how these aspects can be used to support conflict transformation.

The self-healing methods within a certain community are essential for the acceptance of

girls and to promote equality as well as to provide them with social valour and

‘forgiveness’. Without the support and inclusion of their communities girls will not be

able to reintegrate and create new identities in the changing social order. They will be

kept on the fringes of society unable to build a family or find a job – no matter the skills

the NGOs might provide them with – and will be prone to exploration, insecurity and to

fall on the vicious cycles of poverty and criminality.

Research into formal and informal reintegration practices regarding girls’ inclusion into

a post-conflict society is imperative for a more just and equal sustainable peace.

66

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Andreson, Kjell Follingstad, (2007), Dictionary of Gross Human Rights Violations: Jus

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