New research involving members at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine has found an association with political violence, occurring up to 15 years beforehand, and violence against young people.

Published in Nature Communications, the is the first study showing a direct, quantitative link between political violence and violence against children, adolescents and young adults. These findings are based on survey data of 35,000 young people in nine African countries – representing approximately 30% of young people in Africa.

An estimated one in six children (470 million total) were estimated to have grown up regions affected by violent conflict in 2022. The immediate effects of conflict on young people, such as illness, displacement, and death, are well-established. However, the longer term impact on violence that young people experience in their domestic and community environments remains are less clear.

Political violence occurring fifteen years prior to the surveys was strongly/significantly correlated to violence against young people, and was observed even in surveyed countries with less prominent political violence, such as Côte d’Ivoire and Uganda. This highlight the long-term impact of political violence in families and communities.

In the publication, the authors discuss various potential causes of this violence against young people including: conflict normalising and ingraining violent social norms; economic hardships making young people more vulnerable to violence; and conflicting driving a loss of government services for young people.

Dr Marcella Vigneri, Research Fellow at LSHTM, “This study provides, for the first time, robust, quantitative evidence for a pathway long suspected but has rarely been able to demonstrate at scale: that political violence does not end when the guns fall silent. Instead, it leaves a lasting imprint on how children are treated within their own families and communities.

“This offers a compelling evidence base to push back against short-term humanitarian funding cycles, arguing instead for multi-year, trauma-informed child protection programmes that extend well beyond the cessation of conflict.”

Data from this study were collected from surveys of over 35,000 young people aged between 13 and 24 in Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Political violence encompassed a range of actions including: battles, explosions, violence against civilians, riots and strategic developments. The surveys measured physical, emotional and sexual violence against young people.

This study was conducted and published by an international collaboration of researchers from: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, University of Greenwich, and the Humboldt-University of Berlin.

Vigneri M et al. Past political violence and interpersonal violence against children and youth in Africa. Nature Communications, 2026. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71075-x