Sexual exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeepers - PeaceWomen

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Carlyn van der Mark
Political Science Master Thesis - Sexual exploitation and UN peacekeepers
thesis will rely on media reports that have reported instances of sexual exploitation and
abuse. The countries with the most reports on allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse
during the MINUTASH and MONUC mission will be compared with their domestic laws of
age of consent and legality of prostitution. The data that will show age of consent and legality
of prostitution will be obtained from a general website that provides this information. It is
important to note that the variable of accountability measures will be based on proxy
measurements. One can only make assumptions for why the zero tolerance policy on
prohibition is not implemented on a domestic level.
Despite the difficulties in measurement towards accountability, this thesis will highlight that
some of the cultural attributes within a domestic legal system prevents an implementation of
a zero tolerance policy. Therefore it is significant to employ more accountability measures
from the U.N‟s standpoint to prevent further difficulties in implementing a zero tolerance
policy from a legal perspective.
The domestic context of the peacekeeping mission
The last independent variable that will explain for the failure of the zero tolerance policy
towards sexual exploitation and abuse is the domestic context of the peacekeeping mission.
This variable is a difficult variable to test. Nonetheless it shall help indicate the socioeconomic
status of women and teenage girls that may cause them to engage in acts of sexual
exploitation and abuse. The reason for investigating the socio-economic conditions is because
it brings agency to the women and teenage girls. Instead of only perceiving the women and
teenage girls as victims, this variable will help understand why women and teenage girls are
presented into a situation of sexual exploitation. This variable helps indicate the supply side
of the demand and supply cycle of exploitation and abuse. The zero tolerance policy does not
acknowledge the importance of understanding the domestic context. This is why the policy
has failed thus far.
In order to investigate the domestic context as a failure of the zero tolerance policy, two
indicators will be analyzed. The first is the gender inequality, and the second is the
multidimensional poverty index. These indicators are taken from the Social institutions and
Gender index. The reason for using the Social institutions and Gender index is because they
provide specific data on access to bank loans, political participation and attitudes towards
domestic violence. These indicators will provide an understanding of the socio-economic