Beyond Repatriation: Combating Peacekeeper Sexual Abuse and Exploitation
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Abstract
Sexual abuse and exploitation by UN peacekeepers is a persistent problem that the UN has struggled to eradicate. In 2021, the UN Secretary-General repatriated 450 Gabonese troops following credible complaints that troops sexually abused children while assigned to the UN’s peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic. This latest scandal illustrates the limits of the UN’s response, which has treated peacekeeper abuse as a crime or disciplinary issue rather than an issue of gender inequality. Peacekeeper sexual abuse and exploitation (SEA) is part of a continuum of conflict-related gender violence that is rooted in structures of gender inequality. To adequately address SEA, the UN must shift its focus from punishment and discipline to the transformation of gendered structures of power in the host nation.
Publication Date
5-2-2022
Recommended Citation
Vojdik, Valorie K., "Beyond Repatriation: Combating Peacekeeper Sexual Abuse and Exploitation" (2022). Scholarly Works. 970.
https://ir.law.utk.edu/utklaw_facpubs/970