Social Science Research Council

Peacekeepers in Africa and Gender Violence

By Lyn S. Graybill

Some thirty wars, mostly intra-state conflicts, have been fought in sub-Saharan Africa since 1970. United Nations peacekeepers have been sent to over a dozen conflicts throughout the continent. Completed peacekeeping missions include those in Angola (four separate missions from 1988 through 1999), the Central African Republic, Chad/Libya, Congo (the UN's first in Africa, from 1960 to 1964), Liberia, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Rwanda/Uganda, and Somalia. Peacekeepers are currently deployed in Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and in Ethiopia/Eritrea.

Although the blue helmets were initially welcomed by their hosts for their anticipated contributions to peace, they may impact negatively on women's security in conflict countries, as they are often the perpetrators of acts of gender violence against the vulnerable populations they are mandated to protect. Peacekeepers in Somalia (United Nations Operations in Somalia I and UNOSOM II), Mozambique (UNOMOZ), and Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) have been accused of raping civilian women and promoting the illegal sex industry in those countries.

One of the early publicized cases of gender crimes allegedly committed by peacekeepers occurred in Somalia during the missions there from 1993 to 1995. Belgian, Canadian, Italian, and Pakistani peacekeepers were implicated in egregious acts against civilians, including torture, murder, and rape. In Italy, several high-ranking officers were forced to resign after a magazine published a picture of Italian troops torturing a Somali and raping a young woman.(1) The picture-a "trophy photo" for a souvenir-showed soldiers tying a woman to an armored truck, raping her, and inserting explosives into her vagina. The Italian military disciplined 12 peacekeepers for abusing civilians but filed no criminal charges against the soldiers accused of rape, claiming five years later that they "are still investigating."(2) Faiza Jama Mohamed, spokesperson with Equality Now, told the UN Security Council that the UN Peacekeeping forces also used Somali women as prostitutes, contributing to the growth of the industry of sexual exploitation.(3)

Women and girls in Mozambique were at risk from peacekeepers stationed there from 1992 to 1994. According to Nordstrom, "Each transient carried with him his own values about his rights as a soldier, as a peacekeeper, and (since most peacekeepers were male), as a man."(4)

In addition to acts of rape, peacekeepers were engaged in the prostitution trade. Poston reports, "It was common knowledge that instead of leaving school at six o'clock in the evening, many secondary schoolgirls would leave at four, in order to sell their services to the Uruguayan troops on their way home."(5) Women and girls reported that UN soldiers were prepared to pay more for sex without condoms thus fuelling the AIDS epidemic in Mozambique.(6)

Residents of one town sent a letter of protest to local newspapers, accusing Portuguese peacekeepers stationed there of sexual abuse. Residents said that while "they did not want to go as far as Somalis have gone against UN forces [mutilating and dragging a peacekeeper's corpse through the streets of Mogadishu]," they would "not allow Portuguese blue helmets to beat up and humiliate our girlfriends." Although some soldiers were expelled from Mozambique, the number of soldiers sent home was kept quiet, and no soldiers were prosecuted.(7)

Accusations against peacekeepers in Sierra Leone are the most recent charges of sexual misconduct levied against the UN. Researchers from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Save the Children recently reported that children in refugee camps had suffered sexual abuse from international workers including UN peacekeepers. Local aid workers had heard incidents involving girls as young as 5, although most were teenagers. The foreign soldiers paid the highest prices for sex, ranging from $5 to $300. One girl reported, "If you want to live good go to UNAMSIL." However, others complained of the stinginess of some blue helmets, who chipped in to have sex with one child.(8)

In response to reports of serious human rights violations committed by peacekeepers, Secretary-General Kofi Annan ordered a directive that all forces operating under UN command abide by international laws protecting civilians and governing the conduct of soldiers in war. The secretary-general's directive, however, does not give the UN power to deal with infractions, which will be handled (or not handled, as may be the case) by national courts. (Troop contributors would be asked to report on how they have dealt with offending soldiers.) Given the reluctance of governments to send peacekeepers, and the spotty record of national prosecutions of soldiers, it is doubtful this directive will mean much. Women who have often suffered from sexual violence during the conflict most likely will continue to suffer acts of violence by the very guardians sent to guard them.


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Notes:

1. Barbara Crossette, "Global Rules Now Apply to Peacekeepers, UN Chief Declares," New York Times, August 12, 1999.

2. "How UN Peacekeepers 'Hunted' Somalis," NBC Dateline, January 22, 1999, NBC Dateline.

3. Faiza Jama Mohamed. "Somali Women's Role in Building Peace and Security," talk presented at the ARRIA Formula Meeting on Women, Peace and Security, United Nations Security Council, New York, 23 October 2000.

4. Carolyn Nordstrom, "Girls Behind the (Front) Lines," in Lois Ann Lorentzen and Jennifer Turpi, eds., The Women and War Reader (New York: NYU Press, 1998), 83.

5. Cited in Sally Baden, "Post-conflict Mozambique: Women's Special Situation, Population Issues and Gender Perspectives to be integrated into Skills Training and Employment Promotion" (Brighton: Institute of Development Studies, 1997) 40.

6. Baden, 39.

7. A.B. Fetherston, "UN Peacekeepers and Cultures of Violence," Cultural Survival Quarterly Vol. 19, No. 1, (1995), 21.

8. Peter Moszynski, "No Guard against these Guardians," Tribune, March 8, 2002.

Dr. Lyn S. Graybill is an independent scholar affiliated with the Center for the Study of Mind and Human Interaction at the University of Virginia. She is the author of Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa: Miracle or Model (Lynne Rienner, 2002), and Religion and Resistance Politics in South Africa (Greenwood, 1995).