Targeted by Terrorists was launched on 22 February 2024 in Brussels. This research study was carried out in Indonesia, Iraq and Nigeria with the aim of  increasing knowledge regarding children associated with groups designated “terrorist”.

Children’s association with such groups and their abduction, recruitment, use and exploitation by them has gained greater visibility in recent years, with reports indicating that thousands of children are affected worldwide. The groups groom and indoctrinate them, use them as servants, sexually abuse and exploit them, and directly involve them in fighting and various auxiliary activities including serving as spies and informants.

This research investigates the ways in which specific aspects of terrorist groups’ modus operandi and related State responses pose unique protection risks for children, and why specialized policies and programmes may be required.

The study has seven key findings:

1. Child recruitment by terrorist groups is not exceptional and largely overlaps child recruitment by other armed and criminal groups.
2. Children do not join terrorist groups voluntarily. Their association is characterized by a spectrum of coercion, even when they exercise some form of agency.
3. A background of political conflict and the perception of a broken social contract are determinants of children’s association with terrorist groups both in conflict and non-conflict settings.
4. While children’s roles in association with terrorist groups vary according to the duration of the association, their gender, and other factors, their experiences are consistently characterized by violence and harm.
5. Children exit and disengage from terrorist groups despite serious risk of retaliation when they reach a tipping point of negative experience within the group and positive prospects for life outside it.
6. The barriers and incentives to successful reintegration are determined by gendered and stereotypical representations of children’s association with terrorist groups.
7. While upholding children’s rights has proved challenging in efforts to counter terrorism, it contributes to the effectiveness of counter-terrorist programmes and the promotion of peace and security.