La Strada Documentation Center

Protecting children born of sexual violence and exploitation in conflict zones: existing practice and knowledge gaps

Document number
2166
Date
2008
Title
Protecting children born of sexual violence and exploitation in conflict zones: existing practice and knowledge gaps
Author/publisher
University of Pittsburgh
Availability
View/save PDF version of this document
Document type(s)
Research/Study/Analysis,
Keywords
Findings from Consultations with Humanitarian Practitioners, December 2004 – March 2005, Violence, Human rights violation, Crime against humanity, War crime, Armed conflict, Post-conflict situation, Terrorism,
Summary
The results of this study are outlined in the report that follows. Generally, we found that humanitarian practitioners agreed that children born of wartime rape and exploitation are appropriately understood as particularly vulnerable in conflict-affected areas. The conversations echoed much of what is known anecdotally about the risks faced by children born of war. In particular, participants in the consultations discussed these children's vulnerability to social exclusion and stigma from the societies into which they are born. This underlying risk factor is described as being connected to other sets of vulnerabilities: physical and psycho-social health, access to resources, risk of separation, abuse or neglect by caretakers, and early childhood mortality, including as a result of infanticide.
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