Publication

This paper examines the role of girls as child soldiers in Angola. The author argues that the Angolan case is particularly interesting because it reveals that the recruitment of girls is neither incidental nor driven by convenience but owes to commanders’ desire to exploit girls as resources in particularized ways that are tailored to the local context and are aimed to procure the resources needed to fight in an effective manner. The paper also underscores the issue of the stigmatization of girls and concludes with a reflection on the implications for the task of reintegrating forcibly recruited girls into civilian society.