Original articleSierra Leone's Child Soldiers: War Exposures and Mental Health Problems by Gender
Section snippets
Study cohort and procedures
This study presents a cross-sectional analysis of data collected in 2004 as part of a larger longitudinal study of Sierra Leonean war-affected youth. This longitudinal study was launched in 2002 by the first author in collaboration with the International Rescue Committee (IRC). In 2002, 260 former child soldiers (11% females and 89% males) completed baseline interviews. Participants were selected from pooled registries of all young people processed through the IRC Interim Care Center (ICC) in
Results
Table 1 shows the sample's demographic and socioeconomic characteristics by gender. Females constituted 29% (N = 79) of the sample. In all, 81% (N = 64) of female participants and 32% (N = 63) of male participants self-reintegrated without formal assistance; 53% of the total (N = 146) received NGO assistance through ICCs. The average age of abduction was comparable among males (mean = 10.68, SD = 2.86) and females (mean = 10.39, SD = 2.89). Males and females reported comparable family
Discussion
This study's findings challenge the common perception of “child soldiering” as a male-only phenomenon. Girls and boys in our sample experienced comparable levels of exposure to most violent events, including participation in front-line fighting. At the same time, females reported significantly more instances of rape and sexual abuse, and far more limited access to protective resources such as education. Ethnographic and qualitative reports from postconflict settings confirm the challenges
Conclusion
The present study contributes to a growing body of literature examining the experience of child soldiers by gender. In particular, it provides quantitative data on rates of war experiences among male and female CAAFAG to shed light on important differences and similarities. This study emphasizes that children's psychosocial adjustment must be considered in light of war experiences, post-conflict resources, and gender.
Our findings have important programmatic and policy implications. They suggest
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Sidney Atwood for his assistance in data management and analysis. This study was funded by the United States Institute of Peace, USAID/DCOF, Grant # 1K01MH077246-01A2 from the National Institute of Mental Health, the International Rescue Committee, and the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights.
References (40)
- et al.
Past horrors, present struggles: The role of stigma in the association between war experiences and psychosocial adjustment among former child soldiers in Sierra Leone
Soc Sci Med
(2010) - et al.
A second look at comorbidity in victims of trauma: The posttraumatic stress disorder-major depression connection
Soc Biol Psychiatry
(2000) - et al.
Post-traumatic stress in former Ugandan child soldiers
Lancet
(2004) Paris principles: Principles and guidelines on children associated with armed forces or armed conflict
(2007)- et al.
Assessment of DCOF-supported child demobilization and reintegration activities in Sierra Leone
(2002) - et al.
Coping with war: Three strategies employed by adolescent citizens of Sierra Leone
Child Adolesc Soc Work J
(2003) The rites of the child: Global discourses of youth and reintegrating child soldiers in Sierra Leone
J Hum Rights
(2005)Integrating mental health into post-conflict rehabilitation: The case of Sierra Leonean and Liberian “child soldiers.”
J Health Psychol
(2007)Child soldiers: Global report 2008
(2008)- et al.
Girls formerly associated with fighting forces and their children: Returned and neglected
(2006)
Girl soldiers and human rights: Lessons from Angola, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and Northern Uganda
Int J Hum Rights
Where are the girls?Girls in fighting forces in Northern Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Mozambique: Their lives during and after war
Girls as “weapons of terror” in Northern Uganda and Sierra Leonean rebel fighting forces
Stud Confl Terrorism
What women do in wartime: Gender and conflict in Africa
Girls in fighting forces and groups: Their recruitment, participation, demobilization, and reintegration
Peace Confl J Peace Psychol
Wartime sexual violence: Assessing a human security response to war-affected girls in Sierra Leone
Secur Dialogue
Mortality in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: An ongoing crisis
Cleansing the wounds of war: An examination of traditional healing, psychosocial health and reintegration in Sierra Leone
Intervention
Fused in combat: Gender relations and armed conflict
Dev Pract
Nepali concepts of psychological trauma: The role of idioms of distress, ethnopsychology and ethnophysiology in alleviating suffering and preventing stigma
Cult Med Psychiatry
Cited by (97)
Integrating Youth Readiness Intervention and Entrepreneurship in Sierra Leone: A Hybrid Type II Cluster Randomized Trial
2024, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent PsychiatryNavigating the tension between fatherhood ideals and realities of a post-conflict setting: A phenomenological study of former child soldiers in Sierra Leone
2023, SSM - Qualitative Research in HealthUse of Children as Soldiers
2021, Pediatric Clinics of North AmericaGender-based violence against adolescent girls in humanitarian settings: a review of the evidence
2021, The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health