Use of Girl Soldiers on the Rise

Study: Use of Girl Soldiers on the Rise

By EDITH M. LEDERER
.c The Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Girl soldiers have been members of fighting forces on a larger scale than previously thought - taking part in conflicts in 38 nations since 1990, said a study released Wednesday.

Girls under 18 have served in the armies of governments as well as rebel and paramilitary units, the study funded by the Canadian government said.

The U.N. Children's Fund estimates that there are about 300,000 child soldiers worldwide. ``Based on our work, a conservative estimate would be about a third are girls, and in some cases it's 50 percent,'' said Dyan Mazurana, the study's co-author.

Mazurana, a research fellow at Tufts University, and co-author Susan McKay, a nurse and professor at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, collected data on girls in armed groups worldwide and examined their participation in conflicts in Sierra Leone, Mozambique, and northern Uganda.

``From Sudan to Burma, from Uganda to Sri Lanka, girls are members of the armed forces, engaged in armed conflicts,'' said Jean-Louis Roy, president of Rights & Democracy, a non-partisan human rights organization created by Canada's Parliament which published the study. ``Their presence is a central component of the majority of today's armed conflicts.''

The study found that girls became part of fighting forces for reasons ranging from recruitment and abduction to making money and escaping violence in the community or abuse at home. In Uganda and Sierra Leone, girls averaged about 13 years old when they entered the forces.

While girls associated with armed groups have traditionally been seen as ``sexual slaves'' or ``camp followers,'' the authors said girls had many other roles from combat soldiers, slave laborers, spies and informants to messengers, cooks, porters, thieves and suicide bombers.

Mazurana said governments try to conceal the use of girls in their own militaries and point to their presence in opposition forces. But ``in almost every conflict, those same governments are using child soldiers,'' she said.

According to the study, girls were part of fighting forces in 55 countries, involved in armed conflicts in 38 countries, and served as fighters in 34 countries.

When conflicts end, the study said, girls are almost never included in programs to disarm, demobilize, and reintegrate former combatants. Instead, girls often return to their communities - with babies born of rape - and have great difficulty being accepted.

Noeleen Heyzer, head of the U.N. Development Fund for Women, said war has turned girls into killers and fighters, adding that some have been forced into early motherhood.

She called on the international community to respond urgently and adopt new policies to help these girls get an education, training, and become productive citizens.



03/04/04 01:04 EST