Girl child soldiers less likely to be freed in Congo

The United Nations reports that young girls recruited to be soldiers by both rebel and national troops in the Congo are less likely to be freed.

The young girls are often used as sex slaves reports the United Nations Children’s Fund. The government in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has made efforts recently to stop the use of child soldiers. This includes a new law punishing those who recruit children with 20 years in prison. Since 2004 more than 36,000 children have been rescued from the various troops. In 2000 almost 6,000 children have been freed. Of those freed only 1,222 were girls. “Used as combatants, labour and sex slaves, victims of months-long violence and rape, girls are all too rarely freed by the armed forces and groups,” UNICEF said in a news release in Goma, eastern DRC, marking the International Day against the use of Child Soldiers. UNICEF Country Representative Pierette Vu Thi said that the children are traumatized by their experiences and thus need special care. She added that it is very important for these children to return to the life of a child as quickly as it is possible.