The Institutional Failure of Child Protection in Conflict Zones

by Evelyn Ouyang

Photo by Daria Kashleva on Unsplash

The modern international system has mastered the language of alleged “child protection” while simultaneously abandoning its enforcement. Across countries affected by conflict, currently, such as but not limited to Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, and Gaza, the exploitation of children is not occurring because the world lacks treaties, institutions, or awareness campaigns, but it persists because these states have collapsed faster than international mechanisms can respond. Despite international conventions such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, enforcement of such documents remains weak and largely dependent on the political will of these nations, which is often absent when accountability threatens diplomatic alliances and strategic interests. This is an issue because it reveals a fundamental failure within global governance itself. Children are universally recognized as vulnerable, yet their protection is consistently treated as secondary when more “important” conflicts arise. As institutions such courts, schools, welfare systems, and humanitarian infrastructures collapse during war, it is not to say their importance should be neglected, but it also should be realized on a holistic scale that children become increasingly exposed to trafficking, forced labor, sexual exploitation, recruitment into armed groups, displacement, and starvation, thus the advocation for their protection should also be more prioritized instead of ignored. If not changed, the result is a cycle in which children are publicly defended in speeches and humanitarian campaigns while being systematically abandoned in policy and practice.

In Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, the persistence of bacha bazi demonstrates the emptiness of legal condemnation without institutional enforcement. Bacha bazi, Persian for “boy play”, is an illegal practice which is widespread in Afghanistan where powerful and wealthy older men exploit adolescent boys, forcing them to cross-dress and dance at male-only parties. These victims, often street orphans or from impoverished families, are also subjected to severe repeated sexual abuse and enslavement, leaving psychological trauma for many enduring this horrible practice. According to public documentation, this practice is illegal under Afghan law, but prosecution has historically been rare due to corruption. Even as human rights organizations and the United Nations continue to condemn the practice as a severe form of human trafficking and child sexual abuse, after the Taliban’s return to power, Afghanistan’s already fragile child protection systems effectively disintegrated. Thus, it causes the current system where abuse against children survives because there is no functioning authority capable of and willing to stop it.

Additionally, in Yemen, there have been scenarios that reveal a parallel failure through the militarization of childhood. Both Houthi forces and coalition-aligned groups have recruited thousands upon thousands of children into combat missions, despite multiple international prohibitions under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on child soldiers. The Yemeni Armed Forces and UAE-backed militias, such as the Security Belt Forces and Giants Brigade, have also recruited children, often capitalizing on and taking advantage of the severe economic hardship faced by the children, consequently offering salaries or enlisting the children of deceased soldiers to recruit them. Reports documenting recruitment practices have circulated for years, yet consequences remain almost nonexistent. Under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, recruiting children under 15 is a war crime, and international law prohibits the use of anyone under 18 in hostilities. However, enforcement mechanisms within international law, such as that one, remain fundamentally voluntary and fully rely on sanctions or political pressure that powerful states are often unwilling to apply consistently. In practice, the protection of children becomes subordinate to geopolitical calculations. The UN estimates that over 11,000 children have been killed or maimed in the conflict since the escalation of the war, which shows how this conflict leaves a devastating generational impact and heavily impacts the lives of children living in these regions.

In conclusion, this observed broader regional pattern reflects the collapse of child protection systems during conflict and the international community’s failure to prioritize rebuilding them afterward. In the status quo, humanitarian responses focus mainly on immediate survival needs, while safeguarding systems receive limited funding and political attention. This creates administrative voids where trafficking, forced labor, detention abuses, and child military recruitment thrive, while peace negotiations prioritize military concerns over enforceable protections for children. Furthermore, programs that involve initiatives such as trauma support for children, rehabilitation, anti-trafficking efforts, and even just simple legal advocacy are routinely underfunded because they are frankly seen as less politically visible than emergency aid. Ultimately, the problem of child exploitation stems from the very system that makes enforcement contingent on the political will of the state.

Works Cited

“Bacha Bazi — severe child abuse disguised as an Afghani custom.” Humanium, 13 Sept. 2022, www.humanium.org/en/bacha-bazi-severe-child-abuse-disguised-as-an-afghani-custom/. Accessed 22 May 2026.

Geneva International Centre of Justice. www.gicj.org/topics/countries/yemen/4164-the-war-crime-of-child-soldier-recruitment-in-yemen. Accessed 22 May 2026.

“How The U.S. Military Ignored Child Sexual Abuse In Afghanistan For Years.” NPR, 24 Jan. 2018, www.npr.org/2018/01/24/580433652/how-the-u-s-military-ignored-child-sexual-abuse-in-afghanistan-for-years. Accessed 22 May 2026.

“UNICEF: Across the Middle East, a generation of children is being pulled deeper into crisis.” UNICEF, www.unicef.org.au/media-release/unicef-across-the-middle-east-a-generation-of-children-is-being-pulled-deeper-into-crisis?srsltid=AfmBOoqzzhmXaNA49yFnJ_mFKdHL5sbz8kZURbUA71o36dohvhgokGl8. Accessed 22 May 2026.

United Nations: Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/en/where-we-work/yemen. Accessed 22 May 2026.

“Yemen: Houthis Recruit More Child Soldiers Since October 7.” Human Rights Watch, www.hrw.org/news/2024/02/13/yemen-houthis-recruit-more-child-soldiers-october-7. Accessed 22 May 2026