Tasker Heather, van der Werf Katie, Bunting Annie, Bartels Susan A
Department of Social Science, York University.
Graduate Institute, Geneva.
J Peace Res. 2024 Nov;61(6):1019-1034. doi: 10.1177/00223433231168182. Epub 2023 Sep 27.
The Democratic Republic of Congo hosts the longest-running and largest United Nations peacekeeping mission in history. The United Nations also has reckoned with sexual exploitation and abuse in its own ranks and, in 2003, recognized its importance with a Bulletin which became known as the 'zero tolerance policy'. Policymakers and researchers have paid little sustained attention, however, to children fathered by peacekeepers. In this article, we share the results of our mixed-methods SenseMaker® research with community members who interact with peacekeeping personnel and interviews with 58 women who are raising children fathered by peacekeepers. Despite the United Nations policies in place, most women did not report children fathered by peacekeepers and did not receive systematic support. The analysis reveals a large gap between the aspirations of the 'zero tolerance policy' and its operationalization in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We uncovered deep poverty and insecurity as both driving and resulting from women's sexual encounters with peacekeepers, with support needs largely unmet. We argue that there is a lack of enforcement of the United Nations policies, jurisdictional complexity and inaccessible justice, as well as significant gaps between the United Nations' approach to investigating and supporting children fathered by peacekeepers and the expectations of mothers, resulting in worsened life conditions for mothers and their children.
刚果民主共和国是联合国历史上持续时间最长、规模最大的维和行动的所在地。联合国也一直在应对其内部人员的性剥削和性虐待问题，并于2003年通过一项公告承认了这一问题的重要性，该公告后来被称为“零容忍政策”。然而，政策制定者和研究人员很少持续关注维和人员所生子女的情况。在本文中，我们分享了我们采用混合方法开展的SenseMaker®研究的结果，该研究面向与维和人员有互动的社区成员，并对58名抚养维和人员所生子女的女性进行了访谈。尽管有联合国的相关政策，但大多数女性并未报告其子女为维和人员所生，也未得到系统的支持。分析表明，“零容忍政策”的目标与其在刚果民主共和国的实际执行情况之间存在巨大差距。我们发现，女性与维和人员发生性接触既是因为极度贫困和不安全，同时也导致了这种情况，她们的支持需求大多未得到满足。我们认为，联合国政策缺乏执行力、司法管辖复杂且司法救助难以实现，以及联合国在调查和支持维和人员所生子女方面的做法与母亲们的期望之间存在重大差距，这些都导致了母亲及其子女生活条件的恶化。
