Girls are sexually abused and enslaved by their abductors and are forced into servitude. Refusal to cooperate results in brutal beatings, torture, and death. The children that are not abducted are barely better off. Because of the war, the upbringing and education of the children is extremely difficult because of poverty and the lack of structured families. Numerous schools have been destroyed by the rebels.
Many children are afraid to go to the few remaining schools due to fear of being abducted.
Hundreds of thousands peoples are displaced from their homes and forced to live in camps or protected villages. There is abject poverty, famine, hunger, and malnourishment. The displacements have led to overcrowding, resulting in serious health consequences, with the AIDS epidemic and other diseases spreading at an alarming rate. Rape and other forms of sexual violence and torture have led to various physical complications, emotional stress, psychological disorders, and the breakdown of families. What is particularly distressing is that the LRA has destroyed the innocent minds and the conscience of the next generation of Northern Uganda.