Research
We are innovating holistic, localized, gender-transformative and prevention-oriented solutions for protecting children in armed conflict and preventing their use in violence, focusing on three priorities of research.
Connections between morally injurious events
We are exploring connections between morally injurious events faced by the security sector and the recruitment and use of children in armed violence.
Preventing violence against children requires an understanding of the significant psychological impacts that traumatic events during armed violence have on security sector actors. Encountering children that have been recruited and used can lead to serious moral injuries in security personnel if they are not equipped to deal with the mental health implications of being exposed to children in armed violence.
Many veterans are haunted by an internal conflict resulting in feelings of intense shame and guilt as a result of being exposed to children who have been recruited and used in armed violence. The Dallaire Institute’s research on moral injury enables communities to better recognize and respond to its debilitating effects and help create innovative and holistic support to improve an individual’s quality of life.
Early warning to early action
We are conducting research into early warning to early action to prevent the recruitment and use of children in armed violence.
The recruitment and use of child soldiers can serve as an early warning indicator of impending mass atrocities. Understanding the risk factors that lead to recruitment and use is important for conflict prevention and, more broadly, for global peace and security. Protecting children from engaging in violence is key to breaking generational cycles of violence, yet reliable and timely information to inform prevention efforts are lacking.
The Dallaire Institute has created an early warning to early action approach to sound the alarm on the risk of recruitment of children as a critical warning of impending and large-scale conflicts. We have developed a predictive model to identify increased risk of recruitment of children that is testing at 86% accuracy based on four key indicators. We are leading the creation of a joint initiative to produce and share data on Non-State Armed Groups with sixteen of the world’s leading conflict focused research institutions.
Gendered understandings of prevention
We are investigating the gendered understanding of preventing the recruitment and use of children in armed violence.
We reject all forms of oppression and recognize gender as a critical aspect of identity that shapes our experiences, risks and agency. All systems of power in armed conflict are gendered, from state institutions to non-state organizations, including armed groups. These institutions shape how men, women, girls and boys experience and are impacted by the conflict.
The Dallaire Institute is committed to transforming gender norms and power relations that hold women and girls and diverse genders back and prioritizing effective women and girls’ empowerment in peace and security agendas. You can learn more about our work through the following publications.