It is well known that armed conflicts produce serious repercussions for all persons involved. In this context, there is no doubt that children are one of the most vulnerable groups because of their fragile condition, related to their age and dependency from adults, and the possibility to be victim of widespread violations of fundamental human rights.
The significant growth of extreme violence and humanitarian emergencies has raised questions about the adequacy of the current legal and institutional framework to protect girls during armed conflict.
So far, the doctrinal analysis has only occasionally focused on the interplay between the protection of children at large and the specific condition of women in armed conflict. This project aims at filling this gap and at dealing with the prevention of conflict-related sexual violence against girl children in a comprehensive way, with a view to safeguard their reproductive rights, the repression of the crimes committed against girl children during armed conflicts, and the rehabilitation of the survivors of sexual violence and the reparation for the human rights violations they suffered. The analysis of the practice of States and international organizations will, in fact, show how much the topics are related and to which extent the measures and proposals applied to one can reveal helpful for the other.
The project is structured in three research areas. The first field of research will focus on the institutional action for the prevention of the above-mentioned crimes. The second area deals with the repression of the international crimes committed against girl children during armed conflicts. The last field of analysis focuses on the rehabilitation of the victims of sexual violence and the reparation for the human rights violations they suffered.
