Sexual exploitation and abuse in United Nations peace operations: towards evidence-based prevention and response

In an age of asymmetric and protracted armed conflicts, the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping architecture is facing unprecedented challenges in delivering upon increasingly complex mandates to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” Efforts to strengthen UN peace operations have been severely hindered by the failure of the UN to stamp out the occurrence of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) by military and civilian personnel, despite over a decade of research, policy development, and implementation of measures to enforce the longstanding Zero Tolerance policy. Written during a time of intensive public scrutiny of the UN’s record in addressing SEA, this paper charts the emergence of SEA as a phenomenon impacting the ability of missions to fulfill their mandates to protect and assist vulnerable people. A significant body of quantitative and qualitative research is discussed, in order to highlight the growing evidence base supporting SEA prevention and response activities that facilitate health interactions between interveners and locals, as opposed to harsh measures that prohibit any such contact and serve to increase field-level tensions and misperceptions. Examples of the UN’s response to SEA, including the most recent allegations launched against personnel in the Central African Republic in 2015, reveal the organization has adopted an approach that prioritizes safeguarding the UN’s reputation over protecting vulnerable individuals in the most effective manner possible. This will be further demonstrated through a discussion of the dominant Zero Tolerance policy and its unresolved flaws. The paper concludes by offering preliminary recommendations for integrating the findings of empirically-validated research into SEA prevention and response