Vicious Circles – sexual violence against young people in Cambodia, Colombia and Northern Uganda

This study, entitled “Vicious Circles: Sexual Violence Against Young People in Cambodia, Colombia and Northern Uganda” by Children/Youth as Peacebuilders (CAP), is the result of the strong cooperation amongst community organizations, researchers, practitioners and, most importantly, youth organizations in the investigation of the nature and extent of sexual violence against young people in conflict and post-conflict situations. CAP’s mandate is to uphold the rights of children and youth living in conflict and early post-conflict situations and to support their participation in peace building in ways relevant to their experiences of war. This study describes how youth are a prized resource in conflicts where forms of sexual violence are carefully chosen, planned and executed to achieve military objectives. It shows the link between war-related violations and civilian life, revealing the overlap between these two increasingly merging worlds. Sexual violence has always existed but not in the numbers and at the level of brutality that we are seeing today. And, no, it is not acceptable.