A Duty to Protect: Justice for Child Soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

From http://www.witness.org In the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where civil war has taken more than four million lives, children as young as six are routinely recruited by militias and taught to kill. It is estimated that children, most between 8 and 16 years old, make up 60% of combatants in the region.

A Duty to Protect tells the story of Mafille and January, two girls who were recruited into the military at thirteen and ten years of age respectively. Mafille is a demobilized girl soldier whose experience of violence and secual exploitation cause her deep emotional scars. January is a girl soldier whose bravado veils her suffering, and whose characater and perceptions personify the complexity of the conflict and the views of the local population. This unique video also looks at the effects of the recruitment and use of child soldiers on their families and the broader community, concluding that the people of eastern D.R.C. wish for peace and justice in their region.

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