In this Feb. 13, 2006, file photo, Anders Kompass, the U.N. High Commission for Human Rights representative in Guatemala, speaks with members of the media during a news conference in Guatemala City. The U.N.聮s poor handling of child sex abuse claims against French soldiers has human rights staffers in the field fearing for their jobs as they struggle with how to respond to highly sensitive allegations in the future, according to a letter to the world body鈥櫬抯 human rights chief obtained by The Associated Press. AP
UNITED NATIONS 鈥� Members of a U.N. peacekeeping mission engaged in 鈥渢ransactional sex鈥� with more than 225 Haitian women who said they needed to do so to obtain things like food and medication, a sign that sexual exploitation remains significantly under reported in such missions, according to a new report obtained by The Associated Press.
The draft by the Office of Internal Oversight Services looks at the way U.N. peacekeeping, which has about 125,000 people in some of the world鈥檚 most troubled areas, deals with the persistent problem of sexual abuse and exploitation.
The report, expected to be released this month, says major challenges remain a decade after a groundbreaking U.N. report first tackled the issue.
Among its findings: About a third of alleged sexual abuse involves minors under 18. Assistance to victims is 鈥渟everely deficient.鈥� The average investigation by OIOS, which says it prioritizes cases involving minors or rape, takes more than a year.
And widespread confusion remains on the ground about consensual sex and exploitation. To help demonstrate that, investigators headed to the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
A year ago, the report says, investigators interviewed 231 people in Haiti who said they鈥檇 had transactional sexual relationships with U.N. peacekeepers. 鈥淔or rural women, hunger, lack of shelter, baby care items, medication and household items were frequently cited as the 鈥榯riggering need,'鈥� the report says. Urban and suburban women received 鈥渃hurch shoes,鈥� cell phones, laptops and perfume, as well as money.
鈥淚n cases of non-payment, some women withheld the badges of peacekeepers and threatened to reveal their infidelity via social media,鈥� the report says. 鈥淥nly seven interviewees knew about the United Nations policy prohibiting sexual exploitation and abuse.鈥� None knew about the mission鈥檚 hotline to report it.
Each of those instances of transactional sex, the report says, would be considered prohibited conduct, 鈥渢hus demonstrating significant under reporting.鈥� It was not clear how many peacekeepers were involved.
For all of last year, the total number of allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation against members of all U.N. peacekeeping missions was 51, down from 66 the year before, according to the secretary-general鈥檚 latest annual report on the issue.
The draft report doesn鈥檛 say over what time frame the 鈥渢ransactional sex鈥� in Haiti occurred. The peacekeeping mission there was first authorized in 2004 and, as of the end of March, had more than 7,000 uniformed troops. It is one of four peacekeeping missions that have accounted for the most allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation in recent years, along with those in Congo, Liberia and South Sudan.
One of the U.N. staffers who produced the report would not comment Tuesday, saying it was better to wait until it was released publicly. A spokesman for the peacekeeping office didn鈥檛 immediately respond to a request for comment.
The U.N. doesn鈥檛 have a standing army and relies on troops contributed by member states. The states are responsible for investigating alleged misconduct by their troops, though the U.N. can step in if there鈥檚 no action.
In their response to the report鈥檚 findings, which is included in the draft, U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous and field support chief Atul Khare point out that while the number of peacekeepers has increased dramatically over the past decade, the number of allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation have gone down.
The U.N. prohibits 鈥渆xchange of money, employment, goods or services for sex,鈥� and it strongly discourages sexual relationships between U.N. staff and people who receive their assistance, saying they are 鈥渂ased on inherently unequal power dynamics鈥� and undermine the world body鈥檚 credibility.
But that has led to some confusion on the ground, the new report says, with some members of peacekeeping missions seeing that guidance as a ban on all sexual relationships with local people. The report says the guidelines need to be clarified.
鈥淪taff with long mission experience states that was a 鈥榞eneral view that people should have romantic rights鈥� and raised the issue of sexuality as a human right,鈥� the report says.