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Just as children are exploited commercially for sex and labor, another burgeoning area of exploitation, which is more of a broad based category, appears in the form of political exploitation. Whether, the children are being recruited as child soldiers to fight political battles, or whether their being kidnapped and held captive for political reasons, the political exploitation of children is another area in which we hope to monitor and combat.

Clearly the exploitation of children can take on many forms, so it's important in understanding the forms this exploitation may take, to look at several examples of political exploitation. The information below comes from the coalition to stop child soldiers found at www.child-soldiers.org

Some facts about child soldiers:

Hundred of thousands more children have been recruited, both into governmental armed forces and armed opposition groups. While most child soldiers are aged between 15 and 18, many are recruited from the age of 10 and sometimes even younger.

In many countries, both girls and boys are used as soldiers; girls are at particular risk of rape, sexual harassment and abuse.

The widespread availability of modern lightweight weapons enables children to become efficient killers in combat; child soldiers are often used for special tasks, including to commit atrocities against their own families and communities.

While many children fight in the frontline, others are used as spies, messengers, sentries, porters, servants and even sexual slaves; children are often used to lay and clear landmines.

The problem is most critical in Africa and Asia, though children are used as soldiers by governments and armed groups in many countries in the Americas, Europe and Middle East.

While some children are recruited forcibly, others are driven into armed forces by poverty, alienation and discrimination. Many children join armed groups because of their own experience of abuse at the hands of state authorities.

Both governments and armed groups use children because they are easier to condition into fearless killing and unthinking obedience; sometimes, children are supplied drugs and alcohol.

Children are often treated brutally and punishments for mistakes or desertion are severe; children are injured and sometimes killed during harsh training regimes.

The longer conflicts continue, the more likely children will be subjected to this abuse.

Towards a ban on child soldiers. There is a growing international consensus against the use of children as soldiers:

The new International Criminal Court will treat the use of child soldiers as a war crime

The International Labor Organization (ILO) has defined child soldiering as one of the worst forms of child labor

The UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly, the UN Commission on Human Rights, the Organization for African Unity, the Organization of American States and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have all condemned this abuse.

International humanitarian law and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child established 15 as the minimum age for military recruitment and participation in armed conflict. But a new Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child
- prohibits governments and armed groups from using children under the age of 18 in conflict;

bans all compulsory recruitment of under 18s;

bans voluntary recruitment of under 18s by armed groups;

raises the minimum age and requires strict safeguards for voluntary recruitment

More and more governments around the world are changing the age of recruitment to their armed forces to the 18 standard. The UN Secretary General has set 18 as a minimum age for UN peacekeepers. Even some armed groups, seeking recognition and legitimacy within the international community, have acknowledged the principle. The use of children as weapons of war is like the use of landmines or chemical and biological weapons simply unacceptable in any circumstances.