(NewsDeeply) – Throughout the decades-long conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), children have been abducted and made to serve as soldiers. While most are male, it is estimated over a third are female, used mainly as domestic and sexual servants, but sometimes as fighters. Now the London-based NGO Child Soldiers International (CSI) has released a report showing that many of the girls in armed groups weren’t enlisted by force. They joined of their own free will – driven by poverty and a lack of access to education.
