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33 Armed Forces & Soc'y 5 (2006-2007)

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                                                               S emied Force & Society


Peacekeepers and                 Prostitutes                andeSociety. All ibt, reserved.
                                                              101 1     __/005o27X002`,803
How    Deployed Forces Fuel the Demand                                    s eatat

for  Trafficked Women and New                Hope               http°p

for  Stopping It

Keith J. Allred
San Diego, California


   On numerous occasions in the past fifteen years, U.N. peacekeepers have been accused
   of sexually assaulting or abusing the populations they serve. A Comprehensive Review
   of peacekeeper misconduct completed in 2005 identified significant problems and rec-
   ommended  numerous changes to address them. The U.S. Army and NATO, in a
   response to the possibility that their deployed troops will be engaged in or facilitate
   human trafficking, have enacted new policies intended to remove their troops from the
   demand for women  trafficked for sexual services. The Department of Defense and
   NATO  initiatives are similar to those being considered by the United Nations for pre-
   venting sexual misconduct by its peacekeepers. Because the United States, NATO, and
   the United Nations are all addressing the problems of sexual misconduct by deployed
   troops, their efforts should be mutually reinforcing. The examples of American and
   NATO  armed forces offer hope that the United Nations will also enact strong measures
   to prevent future misconduct by its peacekeepers.

   Keywords:  human trafficking; peacekeepers; sexual misconduct




In   March   of  last year, Jordanian  Prince Zeid   Ra'ad  Zeid  Al-Hussein's
  Comprehensive  Review  of allegations of sexual abuse by peacekeepers in the
Congo  was released.1 The story had first appeared the previous autumn, when news-
paper accounts reported 150 allegations of sexual assault by peacekeepers, including
68 cases of rape, pedophilia, and prostitution.2 Most of the allegations involved
peacekeepers from Pakistan, Uruguay, Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa, and Nepal.3
The prince's Comprehensive Review  found, among  other things, that peacekeepers
had enticed desperate women and children to engage in sexual acts for a pittance of
money  or a small piece of food, sometimes giving them money or food after raping
them to make  the intercourse appear consensual, and that these crimes were wide-
spread and ongoing.4 Beyond the sexual crimes, the prince noted a perception that
whistleblowers would not be protected5 and described as inexcusable the failure
of contingent commanders to cooperate with an investigation.6 These comments may
have been toned-down allusions to material contained in an earlier draft of his report.

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