given to the coercive environment under which the child was living or forced to act. The best interests of the child should be the primary consideration when applying counter-terrorism laws and policies to children.322 The justice process should have as the primary goal the ultimate rehabilitation and reintegration of the child concerned. 161. On the topic of children recruited by armed groups that are designated terrorist groups, the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has developed a Handbook on children recruited and exploited by terrorist and violent extremist groups.323 The Handbook provides guidance for developing a comprehensive approach to the treatment of children recruited and exploited by terrorist and violent extremist groups, from prevention to reintegration intervention. Such guidance is anchored in the analysis of the international legal framework and in the identification of relevant promising practices across different regions of the world. The Handbook, as well as the law and standards summarized in the following section, offers a useful starting point for how to support children who may be in contact with the law. 6.1 International Law and Standards 6.1.1 Promoting Alternatives to Prosecution Children as victims of international law violations 162. The Security Council has emphasized that children who have been recruited by armed groups in violation of international law and are accused of having committed crimes during armed conflict should be treated primarily as victims of violations of international law.324 Security Council resolution 2396 (2017) stresses the importance of assisting women and children associated with foreign terrorist fighters who may be victims of terrorism, taking into account gender and age sensitivities.325 163. Children who are used by designated terrorist groups are victims of violations of broader international laws against recruitment and use of a child.326 The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict prohibits recruitment and use in hostilities of anybody under 18 years of age by armed groups.327 International humanitarian law – under the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and customary humanitarian law – also prohibits recruitment and 324 Security Council resolution 2427 (2018), para. 20. 325 Security Council resolution 2396 (2017). 322 A/HRC/40/28, para. 60. 323 UNODC, Handbook on Children Recruited and Exploited by Terrorist and Violent Extremist Groups: The Role of the Justice System (2017). The Handbook is available in Arabic, English, French, in printed and electronic versions. 326 UNODC, Handbook on Children Recruited and Exploited by Terrorist and Violent Extremist Groups (2017), 40-46. 327 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (2000), art. 4. 75.