Should we share? The United Nations and troop-contributin States facing international responsibility for the sexual crimes commited by peacekeepers

Abstract

Sexual violence is commonly used as an effective weapon in armed conflicts. Its forms are diverse and the phenomenon is present in most domestic and international armed conflicts. During the past decades, international society, led by the United Nations, seemed to no longer accept sexual violence as foreseeable, denying the previous determination of these acts as an unwilled but inevitable consequence of war. As the evolution in the protection of the most vulnerable women seemed to be more effective and the measures to be more adequate, the phenomenon of sexual violence as a consequence of peace emerged. This chapter assesses the international responsibility of the United Nations and the troopcontributing states with regard to sexual abuse and exploitation committed by peacekeepers as well as the establishment of jurisdiction for the prosecution of such crimes.