by Edith M. Lederer
10/19/2005

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The United Nations must provide resources to ensure that new rules against sexual abuse by U.N. peacekeepers change the "boys will be boys" culture that still exists in military mission, Refugees International said in a new report.

The U.N. peacekeeping department instituted a policy of zero tolerance and zero contact for peacekeepers this year following an investigation that found that peacekeepers in Congo had sex with Congolese women and girls, usually in exchange for food or small sums of money.

Cases of sexual abuse have also been reported in other U.N. peacekeeping missions ranging from Bosnia and Kosovo to Cambodia, East Timor and West Africa.

Sarah Martin, a campaigner for the refugee organization who wrote the report, said she found that in Liberia when the U.N. representative made bars off limits "what happened was people started having parties in private homes."

"It was still going on, it just wasn't publicly visible," she said. "People just stopped going to those bars and discos but the behavior didn't change."

The report released Tuesday-- titled "Must Boys Be Boys? Ending Sexual Exploitatioon and Abuse in U.N. Peacekeeping Missions" -- said a "hyper-masculine culture" has evolved among peacekeepers who bond together and erect a "wall of silence" to protect themselves from outside criticism.

Even in countries where prostitution is illegal, the solicitation of prostitutes by men in U.N. peacekeeping missions is considered commonplace, and colleagues are reluctant to report sexual misconduct, the report said.

"Until there is a better understanding of the zero contact rule, peacekeepers will continue to think of it as a rule that makes no sense," Martin said. "Fear of punishment is not enough to ensure compliance."

In late March, Jordan's U.N. Ambassador Prince Zeid al Hussein wrote a report that described the U.N. military arm as deeply flawed and made a series of recommendations including withholding salaries of the guilty and requiring nations to pursue legal action against perpetrators.

Refugees International, which has been assisting in the protection of people displaced from their homes for 26 years, also made a series of recommendations, including hiring more male gender advisers for U.N. peacekeeping missions. This would "counterbalance the idea that gender issues can only be addressed by women," it said.