24618 Roberts (news) Haiti: Sexual exploitation by peacekeepers likely to be a problem

[sak-pase@bimini.ws]

M.E. Roberts <meroberts495@netscape.net>


Refugees International
http://www.refugeesinternational.org/
March 7, 2005
Haiti: Sexual exploitation by peacekeepers likely to be a problem


On Friday, February 18, a radio station in Gona•ves, Haiti claimed
that three members of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Haiti, MINUSTAH,
had raped a young Haitian woman. By February 19, MINUSTAH had sent an
investigator to Gona•ves to investigate. On February 21, MINUSTAH
aired the findings to the Haitian local media at a press conference.
While these speedy actions are a welcome change from the way that
other UN peacekeeping missions have dealt with allegations of sexual
exploitation by peacekeepers, MINUSTAH is still not adequately
prepared to address and fight sexual exploitation by UN peacekeepers.

The senior management at MINUSTAH has been very explicit that the
sexual abuses that have plagued MONUC in the Democratic Republic of
the Congo will not occur on their watch. On August 10, 2004 all
members of MINUSTAH received a memo reminding them that "any act of
sexual exploitation and/or abuse by MINUSTAH personnel is strictly
prohibited and constitutes an act of serious misconduct." "I am very
concerned about sexual exploitation," stated a high level military
commander, "We cannot do our jobs if the population does not trust
us." "The concept that sexual exploitation is wrong needs to be
drummed into people. It has to be reinforced all the time," added a
senior police official. "Everyone needs to know that there is zero
tolerance for this in this mission." Refugees International talked
with peacekeepers who told us, "I would not have sex with a woman in
Haiti. It is not allowed. And we know about AIDS in Haiti. We do not
even take condoms that the UN gives us because we will not have sex
with Haitian women."

Despite these strong assertions of zero tolerance, many Haitians are
not convinced that the UN takes the issue seriously. "The [civilian
police] who patrol our neighborhood don't do anything. They are only
interested in talking to women," said one woman who lived in Cite
Soleil. "These women are not prostitutes who talk to them but they
are hungry. They will sell their bodies for money." In Petionville,
the suburb where most international personnel live, prostitutes haunt
the streets every evening and hang out in many of the bars frequented
by UN staff. A Haitian man told us, "The restaurants that attract you
international people feed the prostitution business. The Haitian
National Police will do nothing about this. They are even involved!"
Twenty U.S. dollars will buy one of these young women for the
evening. According to Haitian women's groups, women are even cheaper
in the poorer areas of Petionville. "We've seen an increase in
prostitution since MINUSTAH came. In 1994, we had a lot of problems
with the Multinational Forces. The [peacekeepers] bring their bad
habits with them to Haiti, but they do not bring change," complained
a representative of a Haitian woman's group.

Despite support from both the Department of Peacekeeping Operations
(DPKO) headquarters in New York and the Special Representative of the
Secretary General, MINUSTAH has very few resources, either human or
financial, to address sexual exploitation. One part of the UN's
strategy for addressing it involves prevention through training,
implementing the code of conduct, and raising awareness. Other UN
missions have reacted to the abuses by peacekeepers in the Congo by
appointing a Code of Conduct officer who will head a unit to oversee
and develop a strategy in relation to behavior and conduct. MINUSTAH
is committed to hiring a Code of Conduct officer, but eight months
after the mission has started, this position is still vacant. "We are
still discussing in which office the Code of Conduct officer should
sit," said one MINUSTAH employee. "They may have identified someone
for the position but they have not informed us," confirmed another
MINUSTAH staff member.

At present the Focal Point on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (i.e.,
the person responsible for receiving complaints, raising awareness
and ensuring that the mission leadership takes action on sexual
exploitation) is also serving as the Gender Advisor and is expected
to take on the tasks of the Code of Conduct officer. She is charged
with training all incoming MINUSTAH staff on sexual exploitation and
abuse but has only one staff member to assist her in training. "I
would like to begin a Training of Trainer program within the military
and police," she explained. "The police and military rotate every six
months. But I just don't have the staff to be able to do all of this
as well as I would like."

Aside from the resource issues involved with having one person both
mainstream gender throughout the mission and address sexual
exploitation, combining the two positions limits the effectiveness of
both. Sexual exploitation is not strictly a gender issue but is a
disciplinary offense akin to drunk driving or stealing. While the
Gender Advisor is well suited to advocate for gender issues, her
advocacy can be undermined by her dual role as "watchdog" on sexual
exploitation. Further, according to a recent study, "For some
[peacekeepers], gender is an emotionally loaded term closely allied,
perhaps, to the terms 'feminist' or 'feminism'. Use of the word
evoked a defensive stance from [UN peacekeepers]."1 Thus, the Gender
Advisor is not well-suited to enhance the overall implementation of
the Code of Conduct policies for the mission. Despite these
obstacles, however, the MINUSTAH Gender Advisor has been successful
in raising awareness on sexual exploitation and on gender issues.

The UN also plans to punish perpetrators, with the most severe
sanctions being repatriation to the home country. "I know that I
would be sent back in disgrace," said one CIVPOL officer. "My country
is counting on me, my family is counting on me, and frankly I need
the extra money that the UN is paying me." While UN personnel may
understand the gravity of sanctions, MINUSTAH has not been able to
clarify them to the Haitian people. In a press conference on the
incident in Gona•ves, the MINUSTAH spokesperson stated that he was
unable to discuss what sanctions might be imposed on peacekeepers
found guilty of rape. While it is inappropriate to discuss punishment
before an investigation has determined guilt, MINUSTAH and the UN
need to do a better job of communicating their policies to the local
community. In a country that has had a tradition of unaccountable
governments that do not respect human rights, the UN must actively
demonstrate that it takes violations seriously.

Therefore, Refugees International recommends that:


• UN Dept of Peacekeeping Operations expedite the hiring of
MINUSTAH's Code of Conduct officer.

• UN peacekeeping missions separate the positions of Gender Advisor
and Sexual Exploitation Focal Point. If this is not possible,
adequate resources, both financial and human, must be allocated to
the position.

• Troop Contributing Countries increase pre-deployment training on
the UN Code of Conduct in country. Contingent commanders must also
ensure that all material is translated and do their own awareness
raising for their troops.

• The UN follow-up on sanctions against peacekeepers found guilty of
sexual exploitation and report back to local communities.

• MINUSTAH develop a public information program to explain to
Haitians what the consequences of sexual exploitation are and how to
access the system.



Notes: 1 Paul Higate. 2004. Gender and Peacekeeping. Institute for
Security Studies. Pretoria, South Africa.



Contacts: Sarah Martin and Peter Gantz
ri@refugeeesinternational.org or 202.828.0110

Refugees International advocates Sarah Martin and Peter H. Gantz
recently returned from a two-week mission to assess MINUSTAH, the UN
peace operation in Haiti.



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