04/20/2004

In 2002, allegations of sexual exploitation of refugees by humanitarian workers in West Africa rocked the humanitarian world. Workers stood accused of abusing their power by trading access to scarce relief supplies for sex. The UN and its implementing partners responded by establishing codes of conduct and stronger performance standards for humanitarian staff. Many organizations also put in place reporting systems and instituted sexual exploitation and gender-awareness training for staff. This scandal drew further attention to the problem of sexual exploitation that has also plagued the peacekeeping world. Two years later, however, despite the increased attention to the issue, conditions are ripe for another public sexual exploitation scandal in Liberia.

Liberia is now home to the largest peacekeeping mission in the world: 15,000 troops when it reaches its authorized strength. After 14 years of civil war with very high incidence of gender-based violence and a traumatized population of adolescents, all of the elements exist for sexual exploitation to be a major problem. Most peacekeepers and humanitarian workers are not interested in sexually exploiting the population that they are trying to protect. But sexual exploitation has become a social norm in Liberia.  Sex is a survival mechanism for many people. The international community in Liberia is under constant pressure for help from the local population. One person interviewed in Liberia said, “The girls in Liberia are very good at marketing themselves. Some girls are so desperate that they would sleep with a man just to have a bed for the night.”

The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) and its chief, Jacques Paul Klein, have made promising statements about UNMIL’s zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation.  Klein has emphasized repeatedly that any member of the UN community who is caught having sex with someone under 18 will be repatriated. To address problems with trafficking, UNMIL has also made some notorious nightspots off limits and has enforced a midnight curfew for UN staff.  Despite these actions, however, there are still many problems with addressing sexual exploitation within UNMIL.

UNMIL lacks a clear and transparent process for reporting sexual exploitation incidents. Refugees International interviewed representatives of local NGOs and women’s groups, international NGOs, and other UN agencies, as well as many different members of UNMIL’s staff. No two people could identify the correct focal person to report allegations or cases of sexual exploitation.  In order to implement their policy on sexual exploitation, the UN’s Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) asked UNMIL to appoint a community focal point in December 2003 to hear any complaints from the community. As of April 2004, this has still not been done.

In addition to appointing a focal point, information on how to report an abuse and what will happen to the perpetrator must be clear to UNMIL and transmitted to the local community. Victims are often pressured by their families to keep quiet, a serious obstacle to encouraging reporting. A UN official stated, “people will offer peacekeepers their sister or daughter if it would get them a job.” Violators sometimes remain unpunished due to lack of hard evidence. It is difficult to investigate allegations while being able to maintain the victim’s right to privacy and an employee’s right to due process.

UN procedures for investigating a case against military personnel are different from those for investigating a case against civilians. NGOs that provide services to victims of rape and sexual exploitation are concerned because the procedures are not clear to them. As a U.S. government representative told us, “We know bad stuff is happening, but it is hard to find out who is responsible… If we get credible information, we’ll get complaints into the proper channels.” Further, it is very difficult for victims and their families to find out if justice has been served. If found guilty, violators are usually repatriated to their home countries where it is impossible to determine what, if any, actions have been taken. Realistically, the UN can do little about this impunity. SRSG Klein himself complained, “I don’t have direct chain of command to contingents [of peacekeepers]. I send recommendations to DPKO but I don’t know what happens when soldiers are sent home. It’s very frustrating.”

Sexual exploitation is not limited to UN peacekeepers; it is a pervasive problem for individuals in any situation characterized by vast disparities in wealth and power. Other UN agencies and NGOs also have to address complaints. Although many can point to their codes of conduct that they ask employees to sign, each NGO handles cases of sexual exploitation internally. According to some of the people interviewed by RI, abuses are unlikely to be reported. “It’s one thing to have a code of conduct. It’s another thing to sit down with [employees at all levels] and talk through it regularly. There must be a clear structure to handle complaints.”

Currently, UNMIL relies on training their employees about sexual exploitation in an induction training that covers many other UN regulations. DPKO has created and disseminated good training materials on this subject. Although troop contributing countries are encouraged to include gender and sexual exploitation in their pre-deployment trainings, many do not have the will or capacity to do this. In Sierra Leone, UNAMSIL tried sending trainers for pre-deployment training on these issues but the practice was abandoned. In addition, there is no systematic follow-up training to the issues of sexual exploitation and gender-based violence. Reinforcing the concepts and understanding of the repercussions of such behavior is essential.

Refugees International, therefore, recommends that:

• UNMIL immediately appoint a community focal point for sexual exploitation and provide this person with adequate staff support and resources. Disciplinary action should be enforced for those found guilty.
• NGOs revisit their own codes of conduct and disciplinary action for staff to assure that they have a clear and accountable system for victims to access.
• Troop contributing countries adopt the DPKO’s manuals for training on sexual exploitation for pre-deployment training of all staff. DPKO should assist by sending gender and sexual exploitation trainers to countries that lack this facility. Training should be followed up at regular intervals.