Sexual exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeepers has been a major problem faced by UN authorities. Children young as 6 has been bribed with food, money and even mobile phones in exchange for sex. There are 17 UN peace keeping missions around the world. UN regulations prohibit soldiers having sex with anyone under 18, and forced prostitution. An instance of a UN peacekeeper victimizing the most vulnerable among us cannot be tolerated at all. Majority of offenders are men, and most victims girls. Most of these victims are orphans and children separated from their parents and family. Children with out family support were most likely to not report such incidents because of powerlessness. These children are suffering abuse in silence. Most of the abusers are never held to account for their actions. Even though UN follows a zero tolerance policy, only 40% of child abuse cases are investigated. The message of zero tolerance should go through people who needs to hear it. International expectations should be communicated to peace keepers and humanitarian workers who are deployed locally. There should be a system to allow locals to log any kind of complaints. UN should be able to punish offenders and local authorities should be willing to take action against these offenders. The organization Save the Children released a report on this issue. Save the children is working with U.N to establish local methods that will allow victims to report abuse. Its heart breaking to know that children are victimized by the very people who are sent to protect them.
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