Abstract
BackgroundThe United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) has been marred by widespread allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) of women and girls by UN peacekeepers. There is minimal research conducted on the perceptions of communities most affected by the SEA themselves, and even less about those below the age of 18.MethodsUsing mixed-methods data, we examined the perceptions of adolescents aged 13–17 on how the lives of women and girls have been affected by the presence of UN peacekeepers within the DRC. SenseMaker, a mixed-methods narrative capture tool, was used to survey participants around six United Nations bases across eastern DRC. Each participant shared a story about the experiences of Congolese women and girls in relation to MONUSCO personnel and interpreted their own stories by answering a series of questions. Patterns of adolescent perspectives (aged 13–17) were analyzed in comparison to all other age groups and emerging qualitative themes were mapped onto quantitative variables.ResultsQuantitative data showed that adolescents were more likely, in comparison to all other age groups, to perceive interactions between peacekeepers and women/girls as being initiated by the woman/girl, that the MONUSCO personnel was perceived to be able to offer protection, and that the interactions between local women/girls and peacekeepers were sexual in nature. Three qualitative themes emerged: poverty bringing peacekeepers and women/girls together, material/financial gain through transactional sex and sex work, and support-seeking actions of affected women/girls.ConclusionsOur mixed methods data illustrate the problematic finding that adolescents facing poverty may perceive SEA as protective through the monetary and material support gained. These findings contribute to the growing body of literature on peacekeeping economies and have implications for the prevention of, and response to, peacekeeper-perpetrated SEA.
Highlights
The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) has been marred by widespread allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) of women and girls by UN peacekeepers
Knowing from previous literature that adolescents were affected by peacekeeper-perpetrated SEA [15], we examined the triad and dyad data by age group for the total sample of 2856
Adolescent perspectives were statistically different from all other age groups on 2 triads and 1 dyad
Summary
The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) has been marred by widespread allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) of women and girls by UN peacekeepers. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a subSaharan African country with high poverty rates and a low human development index. The post-independence Zairian period from 1965–1997 was succeeded by the Congolese civil wars between 1996–97 and 1998–2003 which intertwined international and regional conflicts [1, 2] The origins of these conflicts lie in part with the massive refugee crisis that resulted from the 1994 Rwandan genocide [3]. Widespread sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) has been pervasive during the ongoing conflicts within the DRC. In 2011, it was estimated that 1150 women were raped per day in the DRC [8]. The vulnerability of women to violence is increased by poverty, and in turn violence reduces women’s capacity to engage in income-generating activities to reduce poverty [9]
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