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In situations of armed conflict the integrity of household and local community are commonly threatened, leading to the loss of familiar domestic environments. In numerous countries around the world, conflict has led to large numbers of young people living without parental or other close adult care and supervision. Despite a general move away from support for children’s homes on the part of humanitarian agencies, it remains the case that many separated children come to live in orphanages or other institutions such as monasteries. Not all of these children have necessarily lost their parents. Often these places are seen as safe by parents terrified for their children’s safety. It may be that such institutions are the best hope for obtaining food and access to education for the children of families impoverished and marginalized by conflict.
Research that focuses on issues of family coherence and separated children has, for the most part, been descriptive in nature, based upon an assumption of universality in respect of family composition and relations. Comparatively little attention has been paid to local understandings of family, and of adult–child and peer group relations as these inform the wartime experiences of children and adolescents. Studies which take such aspects of local culture into account suggest, for example, that young people brought up in communities which require them to be independent from an early age, such as nomadic pastoralists, respond to the challenges of conflict-induced displacement relatively well.
It is widely believed and asserted that armed conflict leads to an increase in child abuse, including within the domestic realm. Small-scale studies have been conducted by humanitarian agencies and local institutions in many conflict-affected areas which seem to demonstrate this point. Although an increase in abuse would appear a likely result of the social breakdown that commonly accompanies conflict, the evidence from research often fails to demonstrate this convincingly for two main reasons. First, there is usually a lack of any baseline data against which to verify that levels of abuse have risen. Second, comparative studies in other communities or areas of the country which have not experienced conflict directly are generally absent. Without denying that conflict may lead to greater abuse within the home, careful research is needed if we are better to understand the relationship between these two phenomena.
Similarly, the connection between conflict and early (forced) marriage, particularly of adolescent girls, has been insufficiently explored. There are numerous anecdotal reports that conflict-induced displacement commonly leads to early marriage, arranged by parents either nervous about the protection of their daughter’s virginity or desperate to reduce the number of dependents in their household. Evidence suggests that early marriage is especially likely in the setting of a refugee and IDP camps, where residents live in very close proximity and the challenges of keeping apart young men and women are pronounced.
The challenges to provide schooling in the midst of armed conflict and displacement are immense. Nevertheless, humanitarian agencies are making it an increasing priority to meet these challenges and continue some form of educational provision to children, even in the most difficult of circumstances. The importance attached to schooling is due not simply to beliefs about the value of education in itself but also to a conviction about the role that the school plays in offering children a sense of protection, normality and routine when all around is chaos. It is also commonly felt that through the school the situation of children can be best monitored and the particular needs of individuals – such as for counselling, nutritional supplements or protection from abuse – can be met. Additionally, many child-focussed agencies have suggested that school-going children are less vulnerable to recruitment by military forces.
On the other hand, there is evidence from certain conflict-affected areas that getting to and remaining at school can put the young at risk. Any location where children and adolescents gather in large numbers is likely to be attractive to those seeking new recruits. It may be the case that teachers themselves aid such efforts, including through the promotion of a militant ideology. Furthermore, on their way to and from school at predictable times young people are often vulnerable to interception and harassment by military forces. In some places school premises become targets for attack since they are at the heart, literally and figuratively, of the community. Being often the largest structure in the village they may be partly taken over by military forces for use as a base. In any battle students risk getting caught in crossfire.
Clearly, then, the issues regarding the involvement of children and adolescents in school-based education are complex. In each specific context these issues are liable to play out differently. Badly needed are studies that consider schooling in the overall context of children’s lives and which help us to understand the particular factors that make the school appear to them a sanctuary or a place of risk. Not the least consideration is the nature of classroom relations. Anecdotal evidence from some countries suggests that, in times of conflict, the abuse of children by their teachers may increase. Sound research is needed to explore this possibility and provide a clearer picture of children’s experience of schooling.
There are various ways in which education itself can fuel conflict. Denial of access to particular population groups, as alleged in the case of the Nepali-speaking population of southern Bhutan for example, greatly increases resentment and the sense of marginalisation. Educational materials that encourage negative attitudes towards other groups, as argued by both the Israelis and Palestinians about each other’s schools, may encourage hostility amongst a new generation, thereby potentially extending the conflict. In many places there are concerns that displaced population groups receive a better standard of education though humanitarian agencies than the government-run schooling offered to the local settled population. Here again the seeds of conflict may be sown.
Overall, the literature on the political socialization of children and adolescents is sparse, particularly in terms of discusion of young people in countries experiencing armed conflict. Whilst research undertaken in Western societies raises interesting questions about the development of political consciousness, there is a danger in assuming a universality of process which overlooks the vital influence of socio-political context. 1
The common belief that political consciousness emerges only around the age of 18 is partly a consequence of enduring unwillingness to acknowledge the purposeful involvement of the young in the ‘adult’ realm of politics and conflict. This has constrained thinking about young people’s motivations for engagement with military forces. It has also meant that consideration of political activism by children and adolescents remains under-theorized and under-researched. In situations where the young are greatly involved in political struggle, such as the Occupied Palestinian Territories, there is a tendency to see this in terms of individual psychopathology. Yet, the limited research which explores children’s lives in a more holistic manner brings clearly to light the sophisticated understanding which informs the decision of many to engage in political struggle. Much more empirical study is needed if we are to move forward thinking in this area.
It is often accepted as a self-evident truth that young people who grow up in a situation of armed conflict will tend to see violence as a legitimate means of problem-solving. In other words, their moral development will somehow have been impaired due to the perverse nature of their environment. The research into this subject, particularly in Northern Ireland, suggests a more complex picture and raises questions for further study.
Although conflict inevitably impoverishes many ordinary civilians and drains the resources of government, it cannot be assumed that, in itself, it creates child work / labour. In many of the countries that have experienced armed conflict in recent years the employment of the young in various lines of work is a long-established practice. Furthermore, even in times of conflict this need not, in itself, prove detrimental to their wellbeing. Indeed, in some situations the opportunity to engage in some form of employment may offer stability and a means to enhance self-esteem in the midst of great uncertainty.
Of great concern, however, is the fact that conflict/displacement does appear to increase the likelihood of young people getting involved in some form of hazardous or exploitative labour. Military groups are one source of such employment, but it also seems clear that in many war-affected countries children and adolescents are vulnerable to traffickers who sell them to brothel and factory owners or into domestic servitude. The chaos of war - when families are impoverished and dispersed and governmental authorities are severely weakened – evidently provides a profitable environment for unscrupulous individuals who would prey on the young in this way. Particularly vulnerable are those young people who live in the vicinity of army camps and who become involved, voluntarily or otherwise, in the local industry that emerges to serve the appetites of military personnel.
WebsitesAnti-Slavery International http://www.antislavery.org/ International Labour Organisation http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/simpoc/ra/index.htm UNICEF Profiting from Abuse, 2001 http://www.unicef.org/pubsgen/profiting/index.html |
Aside from the widespread concern about the military recruitment of teenagers, research about young people and conflict tends overall to focus on children in middle childhood. This slant is echoed in the work of humanitarian agencies which generally utilise the bulk of their resources for the benefit of pre-teens. However, there is a perceptible growth in interest about the specific situation of adolescents from both the academic and humanitarian communities. Much of the interest in this age group is driven by concern about involvement in miltary activities and sexual behaviour before the 'appropriate' age. In short, adolescence is seen as a problematic period when additional protection measures may be required of agencies in order, for example, to safeguard the reproductive health of females and prevent young males from joining military forces as an expression of teenage rebelliousness.
At the same time there is also an an emerging literature that is based upon a view of adolescence as a period of energy and creativity. Research informed by this assumption seeks, in general, to explore the ways in which 12-18 year olds actively engage with the conditions of conflict to an increasing extent through their teenage years: their social, economic and political roles as community members. Such work raises questions about definitions of ‘childhood’, ‘adolescence’, and ‘adulthood’, and the capabilities ascribed to persons in each of these life stages. Changes in the roles of adolescents as a result of armed conflict and displacement, and the different consequences for males and females are also key issues for study.
In the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), in the various Geneva Conventions, and in the laws of many countries clear guidelines exist about the treatment of children in conflict situations. However, governments frequently enact emergency legislation, such as a prevention of terrorism act, which provides for the effective side-stepping or suspension of measures intended to offer a safeguard to the young.
The abuses of children and adolescents by government forces at times of conflict are numerous. They include the harassment, arrest, and torture of young people who are related to known or suspected members of the enemy camp – actions that are in clear contravention of Articles 2, 37, and 38 of the CRC. In some places, such as Israel and the Occupied Territories, under-18-year-olds are allegedly arrested and held, often without charge, in large numbers alongside adults. 2 Amnesty International and other international and local human rights organizations publicize incidences of unlawful arrest and detention of minors around the world. However, it is likely that the majority of abuses of this nature rarely come to light, not least because the young victims and their families are intimidated into silence.
Conducting research into these matters may expose victims to further danger and could put the researcher at risk as well. In any event, data about the age of those arrested and detained is often incomplete or unreliable. Perhaps predictably, the bulk of research with former child detainees and torture survivors is conducted in countries of refuge. In the majority of cases the researchers come from the psycho-medical field and enquiry focusses on the traumatic effects of abuse upon individuals.
Although not confined exclusively to females, sexual violence as a weapon and consequence of war particularly affects girls. In some settings the vulnerability of younger women is increased due to the perception that they are less likely to be infected with a sexually-transmitted disease. There are also instances where girls are deliberately impregnated in order to defile the ‘ethnic / racial / tribal purity’ of the enemy. Some fighting forces ‘marry off’ young girls to their commanders for whom they serve as sexual slaves. They are often cast aside when they become pregnant.
Acts of sexual violence are often used in the context of torture as well. Several commentators have noted that boys could be as vulnerable to this as girls. However, the particular stigma that often applies to male victims of rape may lead to under-reporting of such cases.
Those who suffer sexual violence in the context of armed conflict must live not only with the psycho-emotional effects but often with social alienation as well. In recent years this has been noted in Kosovo, for example, where young women who have suffered rape at the hands of the Serbian forces are subsequently shunned by their families and community. Girls who have suffered rape are thereby often considered unmarriagable which, in itself, creates wider social disturbance.
In exploring such issues researchers must obviously take into account the understandable reluctance of young people to speak openly about their experiences for fear of further adverse consequences.
Levels of disability tend to rise sharply in communities affected by conflict, due directly to violence and indirectly to poor nutrition and disruptions in health service provision. However, it appears that the particular needs of children and adolescents with disabilities are often seriously overlooked. The struggle simply to maintain basic healthcare and education for the majority of young people in conflict-affected areas generally leads to the low prioritisation of the specific additional needs of a sizeable minority. In terms of research into experiences and needs, disabled children and adolescents in conflict situations have been largely ignored to date. The small amount of literature which does exist comes generally from the psycho-medical field. Accounts which convey the social experience of young people themselves are notably missing. Yet, it is through stigmatisation and marginalisation as much as through physical challenges that disabled young people are liable to suffer greatly.
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