ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the issue of children born of wartime sexual violence within existing concepts of childhood. It argues that the study of international politics has largely excluded the subject of the child. The chapter illustrates children born of war are excluded from programs of children's rights organizations because they fail to fit within existing frameworks of childhood. It addresses adequately the issue of children born of wartime sexual violence, the chapter reviews the literature surrounding childhood as a concept. The chapter traces the development of childhood through the contributions made by John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Philip Aris, and contemporary discussions offered by David Archard, Alison M. Watson, and Helen Brocklehurst. In considering the origins of childhood as a concept, the chapter explores the foundation for further discussion of the network of children's rights regimes and humanitarian organizations focused on child protection.
