It’s happening in various troubled countries around the globe including the Democratic Republic of Congo, West Africa, Uganda, Pakistan, Columbia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. Thousands of young girls are constantly being separated from their families. They are being violently forced to assist in armed conflicts. Most of them are sent to fight, some to cook and some to sew tents but almost all of them become sex slaves to the male soldiers’ bestiality. In several cases these girls are just eight years old.
According to a shocking report called Forgotten Casualties of War: Girls in Armed Conflict published recently by the organisation Save the Children, a large number of girls are killed or are permanently disabled during conflicts or contract sex related diseases such as AIDS.
It is the norm for these girls to be “allocated” as the sex toy of a particular member of the armed group. The unit commander can avail himself of a number of “wives” who attend to various domestic duties as well as his sexual needs.
“Everybody slept in the same room together, 10 women with 20 men; at first I refused to be a “wife” but I had to agree because there was nobody to speak up for me and nobody to give me food except for the rebels. So I agreed to be one of their wives but he gave me nothing. He only had sex with me. Sometimes, I would join him to get food. I was a “wife” for about eight months ... I have not even started my periods. I used to have a pain in my abdomen,” said a girl named Hawa from Sierra Leone.
Girls are systematically used as weapons of war. Raping such young girls is normally perceived as a symbol of domination and humiliation of the victim community. Young girls’ sexual abuse becomes rampant once the socio-economic infrastructure of the community breaks down due to war.
Girls are sexually exploited in order that they may obtain food for themselves or their families.
The result is death, permanent physical and psychological disabilities, sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies.
Most forced or unwanted pregnancies result in maternal and infant death once basic health personnel and infrastructure is lacking. Surviving babies are normally abandoned since these are the fruit of rape.
The disgrace keeps haunting these girls throughout their miserable life. On their returning to the community (if it still exists) the girls are repelled by their own parents and community. They are regarded as dirty, amoral and carry the shame of rape. No man will ever marry them since they have lost their virginity and are regarded as violent creatures.
Whatever crime occurs in “their” community is normally attributed to them. They eventually resort to prostitution as their sole means of survival and, thus, expose themselves to the risk of trafficking.
These “girl soldiers” are the greatest losers of war. Once the battles are over, their male counterparts can return to their “normal” routine and are even hailed as brave warriors but these girls have to bear the shame.
These girls are now making an appeal through Save the Children to governments so that their families can understand their misfortune. They are claiming the rights to attend schools and be re-integrated in a so-called social life.
The full report regarding this shameful tragedy can be viewed on Save the Children UK website.
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