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A relatively new academic field, a highly increasing phenomenon: the recruitment of children in armed groups. Previous research has highlighted the importance of education in the prevention of child recruitment. However, I argue that the already established negative relationship between education and child recruitment is incomplete as education can also positively affect child recruitment. Therefore, it is important to look under which circumstances education decreases the likelihood of child recruitment. No previous research has systematically introduced a theory of the security field into the educational research field while explaining the phenomena of child recruitment. This thesis argues that the security provision in an educational institution is of importance, as a safe learning space can prevent child recruitment through deterrence and empowerment. Using data on Colombian municipalities in 2016, this research aims to statistically investigate the role of security in an educational institution in decreasing the likelihood of child recruitment. This thesis finds that when controlling for displacement, presence of armed groups, poverty, population and rurality, the unexpected outcome that the presence of safe learning spaces, measured through boarding schools, is positively correlated with child recruitment.

This thesis examines how the use of children specifically as soldiers could affect the likelihood of rebel-inflicted conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). Previous scholars have examined the relationship between rebel groups’ overall recruitment of children and violence against civilians or CRSV, making this a previously unexplored area. The hypotheses of this paper are (1) that the rebel use of children as soldiers will increase the probability of rebel-inflicted CRSV, and (2) that the rebel use of children as soldiers will increase the probability of rebel-inflicted CRSV among groups who have child members, not otherwise. The theoretical argument is in short that groups using children as fighters have lower group cohesion than other groups, increasing the incentive for rebel leadership to promote or tolerate CRSV, and that the lower cognitive ability of child combatants compared to adults is exploited as they are subjected to intense social pressure to fit into the role of a strong and masculine fighter. The hypotheses were tested in a quantitative analysis, the results of which were inconclusive, mainly due to limitations in the data used. Despite this, the analysis further strengthens the support for the relationship between child members and CRSV that has been theorized only recently, and by few scholars. This paper contributes to our understanding about rebel targeting of children and use of CRSV. It also provides avenues for future research, highly recommending future studies disaggregating the roles of children in armed groups with more suitable data.