This study analyses the situation of girls associated with armed forces and groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In particular, this study seeks to understand why girls are not reached by the efforts to gain the release of children associated with armed groups in DRC and to support their reintegration.
The issue of gaining the release of girls associated with armed groups and supporting their reintegration is highly complex. This study concludes that only a minority of girls will be reached through the formal processes of “DDR” – disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration. The military-oriented conception of DDR contributes to the obstacles in achieving the release of girls. Reaching girls associated with armed groups requires a prioritisation of community-based approaches that address social conceptions and attitudes about girls used by armed groups.
Socio-cultural conceptions of girls form obstacles to their release from armed groups from both the question of the armed groups themselves and from the community in terms of the reintegration context. Military officials view girls as a form of possession and claim that girls are their ‘wives’ rather than ‘child soldiers’ they are obligated to demobilise.
Moreover, girls themselves often do not see leaving the armed group or their ‘military husband’ as a choice. This is due to the real threat of violence and recrimination as well as socio-cultural upbringing where girls are expected to be submissive and accepting of men. Further, once a girl becomes associated with an armed group and is used sexually, she becomes identified socially as a ‘military wife’. If a girl has a sexual contact with a man -- whether voluntarily, by rape or by assumption due to being taken by an armed group -- outside of marriage and the dowry, she is considered to ‘no longer have any value’ in society. Knowing these social views, girls may not seek to be released or demobilised in the same way as boys because they are more fearful of the social stigmas they will face upon returning to their family and community. Certainly this is complicated even further if the girl becomes pregnant and bears children by these relations.
This study presents some recommendations to improve the access of girls to formal demobilisation, but stresses that the majority of girls will be reached through more discrete community-based efforts. This is indeed the preference of many girls. The study recommends that girls clubs be established as an open forum for vulnerable girls and the baseline of support mechanisms to more specifically reach and support girls associated with armed groups. The open forum nature of the clubs is central to the need for such activities to be discrete and redress stigmatisation.
The conclusion emphasising broader community level approaches is also important to note for lessons learned globally. Despite extensive progress on work with children associated with armed groups in the last decade, too often, funding and attention is overly focused or restricted to linkages to a formal, adult DDR process. This study found that improving the degree to which programmes reach girls requires broader and more flexible community-based mechanisms that take into account the community context of children affected by armed conflict.
©International Save the Children Alliance, CARE, IFESH, and International Rescue Committee
