Thousands of children across more than 40 countries, especially in Northern Uganda, are forced or tricked into becoming child soldiers. An estimated 300,000 children under 18 have been coerced into soldier roles over the past 20 years in Uganda alone. Children as young as 5 years old are abducted from villages and schools and taught to kill others or face death themselves at the hands of brutal rebel groups like the Lord's Resistance Army. Many former child soldiers continue to suffer psychological trauma from the violence they were forced to commit or witness.