Victims issues a monthly review - April 2017

Abstract

YOUNG CONFLICT VICTIMS MORE AT RISK TO BE AFFECTED BY VIOLENCE, AS VICTIMS AND PERPETRATORS In general, youth are more at risk of committing acts of crime and being victims of violence. 51% of people arrested in Colombia in 2015 were between 18 and 30 years old.(2) Young IDPs face significant risks integrating in new environments; prior exposure to violence, rupture of families ties, unplanned migration, loss of social networks, and marginalization upon arrival are all well-established risk factors for joining gangs or criminal groups. Studies show that youth who are highly unsatisfied with their economic situation, lack opportunities and non-violent ways to change their situation,(3) have low educational attainment and live in areas where illegal armed groups are present(4) face high incentives to recruitment and participation in criminal activity. For example, in Cali, a city with serious youth violence problems, local authorities and stakeholders claim that the large majority of young perpetrators come from internally displaced families. In Chocó, criminal bands specifically recruit among displaced youth, using displaced “adolescent boys them as [drug] mules and using girls for prostitution...these children have an uncertain future.”