05/08/2006

In the June 2006 issue of Glamour magazine, Refugees International Advocate Sarah Martin is highlighted as the Glamour Hero of the Month for her work against sexual exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeepers. Read more about this problem here.

Sarah is in good company. Previous heroes included Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and Nicole Kidman. We at Refugees International already knew she was a hero, but it's always nice to have it acknowledged by others.

In the article, Sarah explains the shock she felt when she discovered that UN peacekeepers were luring impoverished Liberian women to have sex with them for money. While effective peacekeeping operations can help displaced people return home after wars end, allegations of such abuse cast a dark shadow over the positive impacts they have made and compromise their mission to secure the peace.

“These men are supposed to be protecting these people, but the UN just turned a blind eye,” Martin told Glamour. The magazine noticed Sarah's work after the launch of her report, Must Boys Be Boys? Ending Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in UN Peacekeeing Missions. Since the launch of the report, the UN has instituted numerous reforms to address the problem, but more needs to be done.

“Wherever I go, I promise the victims that I’ll go back to Washington, where they’re seen as numbers on a map and represent them using my voice as a woman,” Sarah says.

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