Gender in Multidimensional Peacekeeping Operations: Sexual Violence in Conflict
Sexual violence, abuse and mass rapes became a method of warfare long ago. Women and children are the most vulnerable category of the population becoming victims of crimes of all parties to the armed conflict. In most cases, their security and protection is the task of UN peacekeeping missions and regional organizations in peacekeeping. However, the reverse side of the Peacekeeping Operations "medal" is commitment of acts of violence by the peacekeepers. This situation undermines credibility of the UN and evokes a negative attitude of the civilians to UN personnel and members of the military contingent of operation. This article describes the problem of committment of sexual harassment and abuse by the peacekeepers, UN activities to resolve the situation, as well as issues regarding prevention, investigation and punishment for such crimes at the present stage. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n24p483
Understanding Variation in Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in UN PKOs: The Role of Military, Police, and Civilian Peacekeepers
Apart from perpetuating human rights violations in fragile contexts, sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) in UN peacekeeping operations (PKOs) reduces the international community’s ability to pursue peacebuilding missions, threatens the legitimacy of ongoing missions, and undermines gender equality efforts in the host country. While previous research has investigated patterns of SEA violations by peacekeepers, most studies limit their focus on abuses by military and police personnel. This study expands on these studies by examining SEA violations committed by civilian peacekeepers in addition to military and police personnel, as well as separately. I argue that several other determinants beyond military attributes account for SEA in UN PKOs, particularly determinants which address the relationships peacekeeping personnel have with local communities. Using original data on over a thousand SEA allegations by various UN personnel from 2007 to 2020, my findings show substantial variation across military, civilian, and police SEA allegations in PKOs. Specifically, the results suggest that the presence of international civilian staff in PKOs raises the likelihood of civilian perpetuated SEA while decreasing the likelihood of military perpetuated offenses. Female peacekeepers are found to have a greater impact in decreasing civilian and police SEA, a trend not found when considering military perpetuated SEA. Military SEA appears to decrease when there is high conflict activity in PKOs but increases when levels of sexual violence during the conflicts increase. High levels of sexual violence during conflict, on the other hand, are associated with fewer abuses by civilian personnel. Overall, the findings support the idea that SEA varies across personnel categories and has significant implications for policymaking and peacebuilding processes in PKOs and beyond.
Lifetime prevalence of gender-based violence in women and the relationship with mental disorders and psychosocial function.
CONTEXT
Intimate partner physical violence, rape, sexual assault, and stalking are pervasive and co-occurring forms of gender-based violence (GBV). An association between these forms of abuse and lifetime mental disorder and psychosocial disability among women needs to be examined.


OBJECTIVES
To assess the association of GBV and mental disorder, its severity and comorbidity, and psychosocial functioning among women.


DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
A cross-sectional study based on the Australian National Mental Health and Well-being Survey in 2007, of 4451 women (65% response rate) aged 16 to 85 years.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
The Composite International Diagnostic Interview version 3.0 of the World Health Organization's World Mental Health Survey Initiative was used to assess lifetime prevalence of any mental disorder, anxiety, mood disorder, substance use disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Also included were indices of lifetime trauma exposure, including GBV, sociodemographic characteristics, economic status, family history of mental disorder, social supports, general mental and physical functioning, quality of life, and overall disability.


RESULTS
A total of 1218 women (27.4%) reported experiencing at least 1 type of GBV. For women exposed to 3 or 4 types of GBV (n = 139), the rates of mental disorders were 77.3% (odds ratio [OR], 10.06; 95% confidence interval [CI], 5.85-17.30) for anxiety disorders, 52.5% (OR, 3.59; 95% CI, 2.31-5.60) for mood disorder, 47.1% (OR, 5.61; 95% CI, 3.46-9.10) for substance use disorder, 56.2% (OR, 15.90; 95% CI, 8.32-30.20) for PTSD, 89.4% (OR, 11.00; 95% CI, 5.46-22.17) for any mental disorder, and 34.7% (OR, 14.80; 95% CI, 6.89-31.60) for suicide attempts. Gender-based violence was associated with more severe current mental disorder (OR, 4.60; 95% CI, 2.93-7.22), higher rates of 3 or more lifetime disorders (OR, 7.79; 95% CI, 6.10-9.95), physical disability (OR, 4.00; 95% CI, 1.82-8.82), mental disability (OR, 7.14; 95% CI, 2.87-17.75), impaired quality of life (OR, 2.96; 95% CI, 1.60-5.47), an increase in disability days (OR, 3.14; 95% CI, 2.43-4.05), and overall disability (OR, 2.73; 95% CI, 1.99-3.75).


CONCLUSION
Among a nationally representative sample of Australian women, GBV was significantly associated with mental health disorder, dysfunction, and disability.