gender violence

The Problem of Peacekeeping Sex Abuse Is Not Going Away

December 4, 2017

There is no denying that sexual exploitation and abuse has acquired greater urgency within the context of United Nations peace operations. Although the UN launched its zero tolerance policy in 2003, a recent report tallied some two thousand accusations between 2005 and 2017 in peacekeeping settings, which underscores how harmful ineffective policies and specific …

Africa, Gender-Based Violence, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping, WORLDVIEWS

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WORLDVIEWS

UN Day: Another Day, Another 34,000 Refugees

October 23, 2017

by Michael Curtin

Oct. 24 is not just another day on the calendar. It is United Nations Day, an excellent time to take note of one of the accomplishments the world body has achieved in its 72-year history. The global institution has made it possible for the economic and social development for people worldwide. There is, however, …

Humanitarian Aid, Migration, Refugees, WORLDVIEWS

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Building a Case for Prosecuting the Genocide of Yazidi Women

August 1, 2017

by Barbara Crossette

As the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliphate in Iraq crumbles, assessments begin to emerge of the damage left in its wake by its cultural nihilism and harsh sectarian absolutism designed to remake an Arab society. The human costs have been high in Iraq — in deaths, maiming, displacement and the enslavement of girls and women. …

Gender-Based Violence, Middle East, Responsibility to Protect, Security Council, Terrorism, Women

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In South Sudan Camps, Radio Is a Powerful Tool

March 22, 2017

by Kacie Candela

Jess Engrebretson is a different kind of humanitarian-aid worker. As an American journalist and Thomas J. Watson Fellow, she has worked with local radio projects in Indonesia, Rwanda and Liberia on post-conflict resolution and human-rights reporting. From 2014 to 2015, Engrebretson helped develop radio infrastructure in a camp for displaced people near Malakal, South …

Africa, Peace and Security, UN Peacekeeping

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As Acid Attacks Rise Against Women, Laws Help to Deter Such Assaults

February 29, 2016

by Clothilde Le Coz

PHNOM PENH — Acid is increasingly becoming a personal weapon of choice, especially against women. In the last 15 years, it has been estimated that more than 3,200 acid-throwing attacks were recorded in countries as varied as Bangladesh, Britain, Colombia, Pakistan and Uganda, totaling an estimated 3,500 victims in that time period. The numbers are estimated to …

Asia, Gender-Based Violence, Women

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Argentina Has a Problem: Sex Trafficking of Women and Girls

January 24, 2016

by Johanna Higgs

BUENOS AIRES — Like many countries, Argentina is considered a source, transit and destination nation for the trafficking of men, women and girls, according to the United States State Department. Female victims and children are brought to the country from across South America — Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Peru — as well as from …

Gender-Based Violence, Human Trafficking, Women

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Despite Peace Talks, Colombians Are Still Terrified of the FARC

August 31, 2015

by Johanna Higgs

MEDELLIN, Colombia — “There is conflict in every single country in the world,” a 16-year-old former combatant from the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or FARC, rebel group said at a rehabilitation center for demobilized child soldiers here in Colombia’s third-largest city. Yet when it was pointed out that there was no conflict in …

Child Soldiers, Human Rights, Latin America, Women

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An Independent Report on Sexual Abuse Cases by UN Peacekeepers Surfaces

March 16, 2015

by Dulcie Leimbach

A report commissioned by the United Nations but never made public — which studied sexual exploitation and abuse committed by UN peacekeepers — has been released online by AIDS-Free World, a nonprofit organization founded by two former UN officials, Stephen Lewis and Paula Donovan. The report, written by an independent three-person team, was based …

Peace and Security, UN Peacekeeping, Women

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UN Peacekeepers Who Turned Predatory in Haiti

January 20, 2015

by Kathie Klarreich

On Jan. 23, the members of the United Nations Security Council will head to Haiti. It’s safe to assume that they will focus on the political crisis: because parliamentary elections were not held by Haiti’s legislative deadline, the current government, headed by President Michel Martelly, is now ruling by decree. It’s also safe …

Caribbean, Gender-Based Violence, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping

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Yazidi Women in Iraq Describe ‘Unspeakable Brutality’ Under IS Rule

January 4, 2015

by Barbara Crossette

The news from Syria and Iraq is most often dominated by besieged cities and airstrikes on the strongholds of the Muslim extremists of the Islamic State. What those fighters are doing to women they abduct is often hidden by the terrorizing captivity under which they are held. The daily horror of torture, rape and …