ABSTRACT
Girls and boys may become implicated in armed conflict under multiple conditions and circum - stances, through force or non-force. However, recruitment into armed groups can vary greatly from one conflict or region to another, and far from being clearly “forced” or clearly “voluntary”, methods of recruitment often intersect and overlap.1 Many children are forcibly recruited into armed groups. Research conducted in various regions has shown that despite diversity of contexts, children’s experiences of forced abduction are often quite similar, involving surprise attacks, terror, attempts to escape, and ultimately abduction (Denov, 2008; Stavrou, 2011). Children also appear to join armed groups for a variety of reasons, including religious or political beliefs, poverty, to obtain food, shelter, medicine, and/or to seek revenge (Wessells, 2006). Children may also join armed groups due to the perception that membership in these groups ensures critical protection from violence and rights violations perpetrated by state forces, other armed groups, as well as by family and community members. Also, in selected contexts, children may be attracted to the “prestige” associated with uniforms and guns, which may provide a fleeting, but often important sense of power (Denov, 2010). There may also be circumstances where due to ideology, and personal conviction, children actively-and of their own volition-choose to join armed groups (Wessells, 2006).
