The invisible soldiers: understanding how the life experiences of girl child soldiers impacts upon their health and rehabilitation needs

Abstract

There are estimated 120,000 girl child soldiers worldwide. Recruitment makes girls vulnerable to the violence of war, torture, psychological trauma and sexual abuse with huge impact on their physical, mental and reproductive health. Despite this, girl soldiers often remain an invisible and marginalised group frequently neglected from disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programmes. This is not just a local issue: with former child soldiers seeking asylum as refugees there is an increasing need for health workers in the destination countries to understand their health needs in order to inform appropriate holistic service provision. This review provides an overview of how the duties and life experiences of girl soldiers, including gender-specific abuses, impacts upon their health and concludes with a summary of recommendations as to how their rehabilitation needs can be addressed.

Trauma, Aggression, and Post Conflict Perpetration of Community Violence in Female Former Child Soldiers—A Study in Eastern DR Congo

“…For example, female former child soldiers explained to our research group that they frequently trapped other women and girls in situations where they could be raped by men, or even participated in the physical restraint of other women and girls, the motivation apparently being to reduce the number of women and girls who had not been raped in order to diffuse the stigma and social exclusion that they themselves were experiencing as known victims of rape. Social stigma and marginalisation is commonly encountered by returning female child soldiers ( 53 ), and the lack of social acknowledgement and community exclusion may further impact on psychopathology and recovery ( 54 ).…”

Women, children, and global public health: beyond the millennium development goals

“…27 A large proportion of female sex workers are minors (40% in some estimates) and are more likely to experience violation of their human rights, sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancies, and suicide. 28 The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria has long recognised that without the reduction of gender inequality at social, cultural, and legal levels, population health cannot truly move forward. The Global Fund recently launched the Gender Equality Action Plan, which prioritises women's rights and empowerment as part of its long term agenda.…”

Gender and Child Behavior Problems in Rural Nepal: Differential Expectations and Responses

“…Due to the value placed on their domestic workload, girls have much lower school attendance and completion rates compared with boys 50 . For some girls, in order to escape the intensive workload, they may join the armed forces 19,51 . As a downstream effect of the strained lived experiences of young girls, women are more likely to devote larger portions of their household’s income in the education of their children 52 .…”