Children accused of the slightest infractions may be subject to extreme physical punishments including beating, whipping, caning, and being chained or tied up with rope for days at a time. In some conflicts, commanders supply child soldiers with marijuana and opiates to make them "brave" and lessen their fear of combat.
What are child soldiers used for Today?
Both girls and boys are used as child soldiers. They serve as porters or cooks, guards, messengers or spies. Many are pressed into combat, where they may be forced to the front lines or sent into minefields ahead of older troops. Children have also been used for suicide missions.
How can we improve the mental health of former child soldiers?
First, the greater burden of mental health problems among former child soldiers supports the need for focused programming, which should include, but not consist solely of, interventions to reduce depression symptoms and the psychological sequelae of trauma, especially bombings and torture, as well as incorporate belongingness and income generation.
What can we do to end the scourge of child soldiers?
When trying to end the scourge of child soldiers, it's necessary to work not only with armed forced and groups to end their recruitment practices, but also tackle the root causes and factors driving these push factors Today, 170 States have signed and ratified the OPAC.
What is recruitment of child soldiers?
Recruitment of child soldiers is mostly voluntary, due to a combination of the multiple motivational factors mentioned above. However, forced recruitment is a common and carefully planned process in which children are abducted and tortured.
How do they treat child soldiers?
Human Rights Watch investigations have also found that child recruits are often forced to physically punish and kill other soldiers, including children, accused of desertion and other crimes. Child soldiers who refuse to comply with orders may be severely beaten or threatened with execution.
How are child soldiers rehabilitation?
ICCs began the process of rehabilitating former child soldiers into society. They separated them from the command structures that dominated much of their lives re-accustomed them to domestic life. This included performing chores, living to a normal schedule, receiving an education, and playing with other children.
What is the punishment for child soldiers?
Whoever violates, or attempts or conspires to violate, subsection (a) shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both and, if death of any person results, shall be fined under this title and imprisoned for any term of years or for life.
Do child soldiers get brainwashed?
Once recruited, many are brainwashed, trained, given drugs and then sent into battle with orders to kill. There is no escape for what the United Nations and human rights groups estimate are 250,000 child soldiers today.
Do child soldiers have PTSD?
Former child soldiers are at risk of developing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, despite the high rates of PTSD documented in this population,2,3 there have been few assessments of the longitudinal course of symptoms in both male and female child soldiers.
What happens to child soldiers after war?
Exposure to war is a known risk factor for long-term mental health problems and psychosocial distress,2 with child soldiers reporting higher levels of anxiety, posttraumatic stress, depressive, and somatic symptoms than control groups.
Do child soldiers have a choice?
Although child soldiers are often forcefully recruited, it is not the primary way that children, both male and female, become involved in armed conflict. Participation frequently comes down to despair. While there is usually an element of “choice” involved, that term is used very loosely.
Can child soldiers be targeted?
International law prohibits the recruitment and use of children under the age of fifteen to participate actively in hostilities. Such child soldiers constitute military targets under international humanitarian law (IHL), and the prevailing view is that they may be targeted in the same way as their adult counterparts.
Can a child commit a war crime?
Although international law allows for the prosecution of individuals for offenses committed before age 18, no existing international tribunal has ever tried a child for war crimes.
How many child soldiers are killed each year?
It verified that 8,521 children were used as soldiers last year, while another 2,674 children were killed and 5,748 injured in various conflicts. The report also includes a blacklist intended to shame parties to conflicts in the hope of pushing them to implement measures to protect children.
What are child soldiers forced to do?
Child soldiers are boys and girls who are often abducted and used as combatants, forced to act as human shields or conduct executions, deployed as suicide bombers, or used to make or transport explosives. Other roles include working as guards, spies, messengers, porters, cooks or domestic servants.
What happens to children in war torn countries?
Children who live in conflict zones are at the highest risk of experiencing violence, psychological stress, hunger, loss of education, and lacking basic resources.