Ritual Cleansing
In Sierra Leone, traditional purification rituals using ash soap have been an integral aspect of psychosocial healing and reintegration for girls forced to serve as child soldiers. Isatu was trained in a base near Kabala to use weapons, including a bayonet, gun and knife, and she fought in the area around Fadugu and Makeni. She admitted that she had cut off the hands of children and adults, and set fire to houses with civilians locked inside. "There is a law of the AFRC that forces you to kill; if you refuse to, you yourself are killed."

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