SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 20
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Sexual violence is often used to achieve military, political and social objectives through, for instance, the targeting of specific ethnicities or terrorizing populations to force displacement. Data indicate that children are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence in and around refugee and internally displaced population settings, and when they are directly associated with armed forces and groups. Child survivors of sexual violence suffer both physical and psychological consequences, which are often debilitating. This is particularly true for girls who have been raped or forced to "marry" combatants, as well as for their children born of rape.
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Non-negotiated soft law
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Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict