[Author’s Name]
[Institution’s Name]
Essay on Child Soldiers
A ‘child soldier’ may be defined as ‘any person under 18 years of age who is a member of or attached to the armed forces or an armed group, whether or not there is an armed conflict’.4 The age limitation of this definition is based upon the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child—the most widely ratified convention in existence—which defines a ‘child’ as any person under the age of 18.
Research has shown that children need not necessarily be ‘combatants’ to be perceived as members of or attached to armed forces or groups. They may perform a variety of other tasks, both military and non military, including: scouting, spying, sabotage, training, drill and other preparations; acting as decoys, couriers, guards, porters, sexual slaves; as well as carrying out various domestic tasks and forced labour.5 While some children volunteer for recruitment, many others are conscripted or forcibly recruited and may be serving against their will. Additionally, ‘the lines between compulsory, voluntary and forced recruitment are often blurred.
Children may be subjected to various political and economic pressures that provide them with little alternative than to “voluntarily” join armed forces or armed groups’.6 Nevertheless, their association with armed forces or groups—even if forced—puts them at serious risk of attack by perceived enemy groups, whilst the tasks they are often asked to perform are a danger to their physical and psychological well-being. Consequences for the child soldier are well documented and can include death, disability, drug addiction, serious psychological trauma, social alienation or inability to reintegrate after the conflict, pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS, homelessness, etc.
Global attention in recent years has been focused on gaining a better understanding of the situation of child soldiers. International legislation and standards have been moving toward the prohibition of the use of any persons under the age of 18 as soldiers7—evidence that the Rights of the Child are increasingly accepted as of paramount importance in all societies.....
