IntroductionUnfortunately, sexual exploitation and rape are not new concepts in the world, but when exploitation (financial or otherwise) occurs in the context of maintenance of peace, reality becomes “deeply disturbing”. ” (Al-Hussein, 2005). The UN Security Council has had many failures since its establishment in the mid-1940s. Bigger, 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 UN Security Council has also had many less visible failures, one of the least known and unreported scandals being the cases of sexual violence, rape and sexual exploitation claims made. against UN Security Council peacekeepers by the women they are supposedly there to protect. No to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned" Get an Original EssayThese Cases Left'? a persistent stain on the image of the United Nations,” as journalist Aditi Lalhabour headlines one of her works on the African Portal. This stain has only grown as thousands of women have come forward and their stories have been told. What happened? The UN Security Council sexual abuse crisis first emerged in the early 2000s in the UN Security Council Mission in Sierra Leone with reports of peacekeepers extorting young women and children for sexual; promising them humanitarian aid such as medicine and food, this incident was coined the "Food for Sex" scandal. These original allegations were followed by a series of similar claims in 2005 about UN Security Council peacekeepers on a mission in the Republic of Congo (MONIUC) (Lalbahadur, 2017). Congo quickly became the epicenter of the UN rape scandal (Larson, 2017). MONIUC's original findings were 105 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse, 80 allegations against military personnel, 16 again against civilian personnel and 9 against civilian police - 45% of these allegations were from girls under the age of 18. 31% came from forced prostitution, 13% from rape, 5% from sexual violence and the remaining 6% from allegations of other forms of sexual violence and exploitation (Al-Hussein, 2005). Following the UN rape scandals in Congo, it was the first case to hit major media platforms globally. Over 130 Sir Lankan peacekeepers were stationed in Haiti and created a child sex ring that ran from 2004 to 2007. 114 peacekeepers were sent home once the action was taken, but many were simply reassigned to different missions. None of these men have been punished or imprisoned, and many are still on active duty (Dodds, 2017). These are simply the three most commonly known cases of UN Security Council peacekeepers abusing their power and authority to use children and women alike. Thousands of complaints have been made against UN officials, reports of rape, prostitution, human trafficking and child abuse have been found in Eriteria, Mozambique, Somalia, Bosnia, Liberia and of course Haiti, Congo and Sierra Leone. (Essa, 2017). It is impossible to focus on just one major case of sexual misconduct displayed by UN officials, when year after year more and more cases are brought forward and no justice is found. Recent statistics (although slightly declining innumbers) are not much better than the original reports, meanwhile women and children around the world are afraid of the peacekeepers sent to protect them. There are many implications from this type of behavior, which have a broad impact. First, the UN Security Council and its peacekeepers have no credibility in advising country governments on necessary changes in their states, when basic standards of international human rights and law are not being respected by their own personal (Al-Hussein, 2005). Rape, sexual violence and exploitation affect both the perpetrator and the victim mentally and physically. Medically, there is a greater chance that the attacker will contract or spread sexually transmitted diseases or HIV/AIDS. Many states where the UNSC is stationed have high rates of sexually transmitted diseases or HIV/AIDS, thus increasing the possibility that the perpetrator will contract these types of health problems, return home and spread it to their state of origin or in other missions (Al-Hussein, 2005). All victims of sexual abuse will suffer some form of mental repercussions due to the violence, these women are exactly the same. The mental anguish and distress caused by rape cannot be underestimated, and these women have no systemic support or social justice to help them recover, this would be particularly traumatic because these are men they should trust. Some women find themselves pregnant with their abuser's child. It is not uncommon for these women to be shunned by their communities for having mixed-race children, so both mother and child would be marginalized, creating a second generation of victims (Larson, 2017). Abortion is most likely not an option or safe for many of these women, so they are forced to carry the pregnancy to term and raise the child of the man who assaulted her. It is not unheard of for women excommunicated from their communities to seek new relationships with peacekeeping personnel so that they and their children can survive (Al-Hussein, 2005). There have been thousands of victims, so the specifics of each situation are difficult to know, many cases are undocumented and therefore unsubstantiated and ultimately unprosecuted. It is important to remember that the UN is not a state and has no legal power over men. and the 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 published the “Ten Rules” and “We are the United Nations”. Each member country of the United Nations is bound by a set of expectations that prohibit sexual misconduct and exploitation (Essa, 2017). Governments of troop-contributing countries are required to ensure that their soldiers are aware of and follow the regulations established by the Secretary General. It is further clarified that a copy of the rules must be provided to each active member in all languages on pocket-sized paper. Officers and all support staff are now required to follow a mandatory "e-learning module" on preventing or reporting sexual abuse. The idea is that having directly accessible rules and regulations will help decrease violence (Al-Hussein, 2005). Violation of these standards results in “immediate termination” from their position in that UN post (not from the UN itself) (UN Affairs, 2018). The United Nations has recognized that there is a problem and has responded by putting in place a series of measures to prevent, document and hopefully prosecute rape and sexual abuse in missions. It is developing a method of screening before sending.
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