The dissonance between the United Nations zero-tolerance policy and the criminalisation of sexual offences on the international level

Quenivet, Noelle

Abstract

As a growing number of stories unravelled the involvement of United Nations peacekeepers in human trafficking and sexual exploitation cases, the United Nations adopted in 2003 and implemented a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual encounters between peacekeepers and local women. This article argues that this policy is flawed for a number of reasons. First, it does not apply to all United Nations-related personnel and thereby fails to target those who are mostly engaged in such activities. Second, it only provides for disciplinary measures, a flaw only partially remedied by the draft convention on the criminal accountability of United Nations officials and experts on mission. Third, it does not take into account the jurisprudence of international criminal tribunals on sexual offences, for it negates the possibility of consent. © 2007 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

• Journal Article Type: Review
• Publication Date: Nov 1, 2007
• Deposit Date: Dec 14, 2010
• Journal: International Criminal Law Review
• Print ISSN: 1567-536X
• Electronic ISSN: 1571-8123
• Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 657-676
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/156753607X241256
• Keywords: United Nationas, sexual offences, zero-tolerance
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1034018
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156753607X241256
• Related Public URLs: http://www.brill.nl/icla
• Contract Date: Apr 9, 2016