ABSTRACT
During the past decade, the issue of child soldiering has captured the imagination of the Western world. Blockbuster films, songs, books, and news coverage have played a major role in creating the Western image of the 'child soldier'. Article 38 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which provision prohibits child soldiering, is the only article of the CRC for which the age threshold for protection is reduced from younger than 18 to younger than 15. This chapter commences with an overview of child recruitment in contemporary armed conflicts. A number of different sub-regimes of international law may be activated in the context of these legal concepts, including international human rights law (IHRL); international humanitarian law (IHL); international criminal law (ICL); and international labour law. Prior to 2003, the United Nations Children's Agency (UNICEF) adopted the following definition of trafficking: 'the illegal trade across borders of goods, especially contraband, for profit.
