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Report Charges that UN Soldiers Covering Up Sexual Exploitation, Rape and Abuse

NEW YORK, October 20, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A report released Tuesday reveals that UN peacekeepers involved in overseas missions often cover up instances of sexual exploitation, abuse, and rape by fellow soldiers in what the report calls a “boys will be boys” attitude.

“A ‘boys will be boys’ attitude in peacekeeping missions breeds tolerance for exploiting and abusing local women,” wrote Sarah Martin, author of the report titled, Must Boys Be Boys? Ending Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in UN Peacekeeping Missions. “This attitude is slowly changing, but the UN must go beyond rhetoric and ensure that the resources needed to change this culture are available.”

The advocacy group Refugees International, who commissioned the report, relied on information from UN peacekeeping missions in Liberia and Haiti as examples, arguing that a “hyper-masculine culture” has evolved that breeds a “wall of silence” that bonds together members to protect them from outside criticism. “Even in countries where it is illegal, solicitation of prostitutes by men in post-conflict countries is treated as commonplace,” a release explained. “Employees are reluctant to report sexual misconduct by colleagues due to fear of recrimination from within the system. UN employees confirm that many do not truly buy into the UN’s official policy of zero tolerance and zero contact.”

UN peacekeepers have been accused of sexual abuse in missions from Bosnia and Kosovo to Cambodia, East Timor, Somalia, West Africa and Congo. Last year the UN investigated approximately 150 allegations of sexual abuse by UN staff and peacekeepers in the Congo, including rape, prostitution and pedophilia.

“Until there is a better understanding of the zero contact rule, peacekeepers will continue to think of it as a rule that makes no sense,” Martin stated. “Fear of punishment is not enough to ensure compliance.”

Refugees International said that Liberians regularly complained to them about the problem. A Liberian man told them in an interview, “This behaviour would not be acceptable in the home country of these soldiers. Why are these soldiers playing around with our children?”

In Liberia, where the UN Undersecretary general made bars off-limits because of terrible behaviour by UN troops and staff, “people started having parties in private homes,” Martin said. “It was still going on, it just wasn't publicly visible. People just stopped going to those bars and discos but the behaviour didn't change.”

Undersecretary general Jean-Marie Guehenno said that UN staff have yet to understand the meaning of zero tolerance. “It's an ongoing battle,” she said, according to a Yahoo News report. “It’s not going to be resolved quickly.”

Read the Refugees International report:
http://www.refugeesinternational.org/files/6976_file_FINAL_MustBoys.pdf

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
UN Congo Staff and Soldiers Accused of Prostitution, Rape, and Pedophilia
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/nov/04112408.html

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