Rehabilitation and reintegration of child soldiers

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The rehabilitation and reintegration of child soldiers is defined by Child Soldiers International as: "The process through which children formerly associated with armed forces/groups are supported to return to civilian life and play a valued role in their families and communities".^[1]

A child soldier is "...any person below 18 years of age who is or who has been recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity".[2]

Generally, reintegration efforts seek to return children to a safe environment, to create a sense of forgiveness on the behalf of the child's family and community through religious and cultural ceremonies and rituals, and encourage the reunification of the child with their family.^[3][4] Often the first step is to reunite the former child soldier with their family and provide adequate monetary and institutional support.^[5][4] Access to education is one of the most requested forms of support in post-conflict environments, but is often unavailable for economic reasons.^[6] Some studies have shown that community-led reintegration is more beneficial than Western-driven trauma healing in dealing with the psychological challenges of reintegration.^[4][7]

There is often a stigma that children who belonged to armed groups are immoral, untrustworthy, or dangerous and therefore many individuals are rejected by community members, making reintegration difficult.^[4] Reintegration efforts can become challenging when a child has committed war crimes, as in these cases stigma and resentment within the community can be exacerbated.

Female child soldiers commonly face additional barriers to successful reintegration. Girls report significantly higher rates of rape and sexual abuse during a conflict and are, therefore, confronted with unique, gender-specific challenges. They often face stronger stigmatisation on their return to the community since they are often considered tainted by sexual relationships that occurred outside of marriage.^[1] They are often ostracised upon return, ridiculed, verbally and physically attacked and prohibited from marrying.^[8]