Sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) in the context of peacekeeping is a much publicized problem affecting peacekeeping missions established by the United Nations (U.N.) and African Union, among others. Civilians have filed complaints of sexual exploitation and abuse against military contingents, police, humanitarian personnel who work for the United Nations or others involved in U.N. missions. The U.N. response is widely regarded as inadequate. In 2015, the U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services lamented in its internal review of the agency’s response to peacekeeper SEA the lack of assistance and support made available to victims, many of whom number among the most vulnerable anywhere, and urged the institution and member States to resolve their longstanding failure to properly address and finance redress for victims of peacekeeper sexual abuse and exploitation.
In fall 2016, the Clinic partnered with REDRESS, a London-based human rights NGO, to research and prepare a report advocating that much greater effort be made to provide victims of SEA in peacekeeping missions prompt, adequate and effective redress. Redress has a long history of helping torture survivors and other victims of human rights abuses participate in international and national human rights fora, and obtain justice and reparation. The project focused on the ways in which advocates, as well as national governments, and the United Nations can look beyond questions of perpetrator accountability to address the victims’ need for support and reparation.
Over the 2016 – 2017 academic year, Clinic students prepared a legal research memorandum on issues of parentage, funding, and mission-level responses to PSEA in Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, and Haiti. Additionally, students conducted interviews with experts, academics and activists, prepared fact and international and foreign legal research, and legal analysis that they contributed to the drafting of the final report. The final report was released in September 2017, in conjunction with high-level meetings on peacekeeper sexual exploitation and abuse in New York. The authors intend the report to serve as an advocacy resource, generate increased international attention to this issue, and catalyze action, including contributing to recent momentum on this issue, such as the August 2017 appointment of the United Nation’s first ever Victims’ Rights Advocate, who is tasked with coordinating and ensuring redress for victims of peacekeeper sexual exploitation and abuse.
Read the full report: Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Peacekeeping Operations