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  • Essay / Sexual Extortion, Rape and Sexual Abuse by UN Officials

    IntroductionUnfortunately, sexual exploitation and rape are not new concepts to the world, but when exploitation (financial or otherwise) occurs in the context of peacekeeping, the reality becomes “deeply disturbing”. » (Al-Hussein, 2005). The United Nations Security Council has experienced many failures since its creation in the mid-1940s. Larger, more well-known failures, such as the Rwandan genocide and the unpredictable end of the Syrian refugee crisis, are some of the first things that come to mind. However, the Security Council has also seen many less visible failures, with one of the lesser known and not publicly reported scandals being cases of sexual assault, rape and sexual exploitation complaints brought against peacekeepers. of the UN Security Council by the women they are supposed to protect. no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay These cases have left “a persistent stain on the image of the United Nations”, as journalist Aditi Lalhabour calls it in one of her works on the African Portal. This stain has only deepened as thousands of women have come forward and had their stories reported. What Happened The UN Security Council sexual abuse crisis first emerged in the early 2000s during the UN Security Council mission to Sierra Leone with reports that peacekeepers extorted young women and children for sexual purposes; promising them humanitarian aid such as medicine and food, this incident has been dubbed the “food for sex scandal”. These initial allegations were followed by a series of similar claims in 2005 regarding United Nations Security Council peacekeepers on mission in the Republic of Congo (MONIUC) (Lalbahadur, 2017). Congo quickly became the epicenter of the United Nations rape scandal (Larson, 2017). MONIUC's initial findings were 105 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse, 80 allegations against military personnel, another 16 against civilian personnel and 9 against civilian police - 45. % of these allegations involved girls under 18 years old. 31% were from forced prostitution, 13% were rape, 5% were sexual assault and the remaining 6% were allegations of other forms of sexual assault and exploitation (Al-Hussein, 2005). Closely following the UN rape scandals in Congo, this is the first case to hit major media platforms around the world. More than 130 peacekeepers from Sir Lanka were stationed in Haiti and created a pedophile ring that operated from 2004 to 2007. 114 peacekeepers were sent home after action was taken, but many were simply reassigned to different missions. None of these men were punished or imprisoned, and many remain on active duty (Dodds, 2017). These are just three of the most well-known cases of UN Security Council peacekeepers abusing their power and authority to use children and women. Thousands of complaints have been filed against UN officials, reports of rape, prostitution, human trafficking and abuse of minors have been uncovered in Eritrea, Mozambique, Somalia, in Bosnia, Liberia and of course Haiti, Congo and Sierra Leone. (Essa, 2017). It is impossible to focus solely on one major case of sexual misconductreported by UN officials, while year after year more and more cases are presented and no justice is served. Recent statistics (although slightly down) are little better than the original reports, as women and children around the world fear the peacekeepers sent to protect them. This type of behavior has many implications, which have a considerable impact. First, the United Nations Security Council and its peacekeeping forces lack credibility to advise country governments on necessary changes in their states, when basic norms of human rights and international law are not met. not respected by their own staff (Al-Hussein, 2005). .Rape, sexual assault and exploitation mentally and physically affect both the perpetrator and the victim. Medically, there is an increased risk that the abuser will contract or spread sexually transmitted diseases or HIV/AIDS. Many states in which the UNSC is stationed have high rates of STDs or HIV/AIDS, which increases the risk that the abuser will contract these types of health problems, return home, and spread the virus within their home state. origin or during other missions (Al-Hussein, 2005). ).All victims of sexual abuse will experience some form of mental repercussions from the assault, these women are exactly the same. The mental anguish and distress caused by rape cannot be underestimated, and these women do not have systemic support or social justice to help them recover, which would be particularly traumatic because they are men who they are supposed to trust. Some women find themselves pregnant with their attacker's child. It is not uncommon for these women to be excluded from their communities because they have mixed-race children, with both mother and child excluded, creating a second generation of victims (Larson, 2017). Abortion is likely not an option or safe for many of these women, so they are forced to carry to term and raise the child of the man who assaulted her. It is not uncommon for women excommunicated from their community to seek new relationships with peacekeeping personnel for their survival and that of their child (Al-Hussein, 2005). There have been thousands of victims, so the details of each situation are difficult to know, many cases remain undocumented and therefore unfounded and are ultimately not prosecuted. It is important to remember that the UN is not a state and has no legal power over people. and women sent on missions. The UN is not a government and does not have a judicial system. In response to the crisis, the United Nations released the “Ten Rules” and “We Are the United Nations.” Each UN member country is bound by a set of expectations prohibiting sexual misconduct and exploitation (Essa, 2017). Governments of troop-contributing countries are required to ensure that their soldiers know and comply with the standards set by the Secretary-General. It also states that a copy of the rules must be provided to each active member in all languages ​​on a pocket size. map. Officers and any support staff are now required to complete a mandatory “e-learning module” on preventing or reporting sexual abuse. The idea being that making rules and regulations directly accessible will help reduce violence (Al-Hussein, 2005). Violation of these standards results in “immediate dismissal” from their position in that UN mission (and not from the UN itself) (UN Affairs, 2018). The UN recognized that there were problems and.