Monday, December 15, 2008

Peacekeeping and Prostitution

The abstract of an academic article in Armed Forces & Society, Vol. 33, No. 1, 5-23 (2006)

"Peacekeepers and Prostitutes: How Deployed Forces Fuel the Demand for Trafficked Women and New Hope for Stopping It" by Keith J. Allred

On numerous occasions in the past fifteen years, U.N. peacekeepers have been accused of sexually assaulting or abusing the populations they serve. A Comprehensive Review of peacekeeper misconduct completed in 2005 identified significant problems and recommended numerous changes to address them. The U.S. Army and NATO, in a response to the possibility that their deployed troops will be engaged in or facilitate human trafficking, have enacted new policies intended to remove their troops from the demand for women trafficked for sexual services.

The Department of Defense and NATO initiatives are similar to those being considered by the United Nations for preventing sexual misconduct by its peacekeepers. Because the United States, NATO, and the United Nations are all addressing the problems of sexual misconduct by deployed troops, their efforts should be mutually reinforcing. The examples of American and NATO armed forces offer hope that the United Nations will also enact strong measures to prevent future misconduct by its peacekeepers.


Tsk, tsk.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

UN Peacekeepers in Bosnia were instrumental in starting up and fuelling the sex slave trade of East European girls in the 90s. Later they repeated it all in Kosovo.

Sexual Slavery in Bosnia: The Negative Externality of the Market for Peace
Women and Children for Sale
Country report: Bosnia
Victims of Bosnia's sex trade
Kosovo UN troops 'fuel sex trade'
Nato force 'feeds Kosovo sex trade'

YMedad said...

thanks for your input