Why read? To understand how UN peacekeeping failures directly affect children born of sexual exploitation and abuse, and why current accountability systems leave mothers and PKFC families without support. This article offers rare, first hand insight from affected families in eastern DRC, exposes the barriers they face in seeking paternity recognition and assistance, and provides concrete...

Why read? To understand how the absence of peacekeeper fathers shapes the identities and family relationships of the children they leave behind in the DRC. This study offers rare insight from PKFC themselves, revealing how lacking paternal knowledge deepens poverty, disrupts cultural belonging and creates a painful gap between their ideals of family and lived experience. It shows how imagined...

Why read? To understand how a feminist, relational interviewing approach can transform research on peacekeeper‑perpetrated sexual exploitation and abuse. This article shows how collaborative, dialogic methods create space for local interlocutors to shape analysis, revealing tensions between institutional narratives and community...

Why read? To understand how stigma shapes the lives of mothers and children fathered by UN peacekeepers in the DRC, and why these harms persist across generations. Drawing on in‑depth interviews, this study reveals how mixed ethnicity, fatherlessness, economic deprivation and social rejection combine to marginalise PKFC and their mothers.It shows how stigma is transmitted within...

Why read? To understand how the UN’s “zero tolerance” policy on sexual exploitation and abuse breaks down in practice, and why mothers and children fathered by peacekeepers in the DRC are left without support. This mixed‑methods study shows a stark gap between UN commitments and lived reality: most women never report, almost none receive assistance, and deep poverty both drives and results from sexual encounters with peacekeepers.

Why read? To see how situational opportunity - not just individual misconduct - shapes peacekeeper‑perpetrated SEA in the Central African Republic. Using interviews with witnesses, peacekeepers and UN policymakers, the study applies routine activities theory to show how weak deterrence, poor accountability and local vulnerabilities create conditions for abuse.

Why read? To understand how Haitians perceive and respond to peacekeeper‑perpetrated sexual misconduct across different regions. Using over 2,500 community narratives, the study finds SEA stories were more common in rural areas and that personal experiences of misconduct strongly predicted rejection of MINUSTAH.

Why read? To understand how race and poverty intersect to shape the lives of children fathered and abandoned by UN peacekeepers in the DRC. This study reveals how biracial identity creates expectations of privilege that sharply clash with the extreme deprivation most PKFC face, amplifying stigma and social disadvantage. Drawing on interviews with PKFC and their mothers, the article shows...

Why read? To see how refugee women and girls can reshape humanitarian research when treated as experts rather than subjects. This study shows how participatory, creative methods - used in Uganda and Lebanon - allow Syrian and South Sudanese co‑researchers to document sexual exploitation and abuse risks in their own communities and propose safer aid practices. It demonstrates that sharing...

Why read? To understand how survivors of peacekeeper‑perpetrated sexual exploitation and abuse in the DRC attempt to navigate a complex, overlapping legal landscape in search of justice. This article shows how multiple jurisdictions, UN‑specific procedures and state systems create barriers that not only obstruct accountability but actively erode it.

Why read? To understand how Haitian communities interpret sexual exploitation and abuse differently depending on whether the survivor is female or male, and why these perceptions matter for prevention and response. This study shows how SEA against women and girls has become normalized through inequitable gender norms and the commodification of female sexuality, while SEA against men and boys elicits outrage shaped by homophobia.

Why read? To understand how Congolese communities interpret peacekeeper‑perpetrated SEA beyond what appears in formal UN reports, and why poverty so strongly shapes perceptions of fairness and consent. This mixed‑methods study shows that people in different host communities vary widely in their willingness to share SEA narratives, and that sexual interactions are...

Why read? To see how the humanitarian sector’s response to the Oxfam Haiti scandal reproduced colonial, racialized and gendered assumptions about sex work. This article shows that, rather than treating Haitian sex workers as agents with voices and perspectives, NGOs framed them as passive victims to restore their own moral authority. By analysing Oxfam’s public messaging...

Why read? To understand how gender shapes Haitian community perceptions of peacekeeper‑perpetrated SEA. Using SenseMaker data, the study shows women and girls more often interpret sexual interactions as “relationships” and view peacekeepers as supportive, while men and boys tend to see peacekeepers as authoritative.

Why read? To understand how race and poverty intersect to shape the lives of children fathered and abandoned by UN peacekeepers in the DRC. This study reveals how biracial identity creates expectations of privilege that sharply clash with the extreme deprivation most PKFC face, amplifying stigma and social disadvantage. Drawing on interviews with PKFC and their mothers, the article shows how cultural...

Why read? To understand how exposure to peacekeeper‑perpetrated sexual exploitation and abuse shapes the stigma women and girls face in eastern DRC. This study uses large‑scale community data to show that higher levels of SEA are strongly linked to diminished social status and inadequate institutional support, revealing both public and structural stigma.

Why read? To understand how Haitian communities interpreted MINUSTAH’s sexual interactions with local women and girls, and why these perceptions undermine the mission’s legitimacy. This mixed‑methods study reveals three dominant narratives - peacekeepers as tourists, as sexual exploiters, and as ideal partners- and shows how such views complicate trust in UN operations.

Why read? To understand how adolescents in eastern DRC make sense of peacekeeper‑perpetrated sexual exploitation and abuse, and why poverty shapes these interpretations in deeply concerning ways. This study shows that teenagers are more likely than adults to view sexual interactions with peacekeepers as initiated by women and girls, protective, and tied to material gain.

Why read? To see how researchers are pushing past the UN’s binary “SEA/no SEA” framing and developing tools that actually reflect the complexity of women’s and girls’ experiences in the DRC. This study builds an eight‑indicator index - grounded in both narrative and survey data - to quantify degrees of exposure to peacekeeper‑perpetrated SEA. By showing how different forms of interaction carry different levels of risk and harm

Why read? To understand how Haitian mothers of peacekeeper‑fathered children navigate a justice system that rarely delivers support. Based on interviews across Haiti, the study shows women were discouraged from reporting, told nothing could be done once peacekeepers left, and often faced broken promises and disclosure fatigue.

Why read? To understand how stigma shapes the lives of Haitian women raising peacekeeper‑fathered children. Drawing on interviews, the study uses Link & Phelan’s model to show how labeling, stereotyping, separation and status loss affect both mothers and children, while factors like family acceptance and skin tone can buffer harm.

Why read? To understand why peacekeeper‑fathered children should be recognised as children born of war, and how their lives closely mirror the exclusion, stigma and developmental hardship experienced by other CBOW groups. Drawing on thousands of community micro‑narratives and interviews from Haiti and the DRC, this article provides rare empirical evidence showing shared vulnerabilities and...

Why read? To understand how Haitian communities perceived MINUSTAH’s presence beyond its security mandate, and why allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse continue to shape public trust. This study reveals the stark contrast between the mission’s stabilisation efforts and local expectations of justice, accountability and transparency. Drawing on community data from across Haiti, it shows how....

Why read? To understand the lived dynamics of transactional sex between Haitian civilians and UN peacekeepers, and why SEA persists despite formal prohibitions and training. This article draws on interviews with Haitians who engaged in transactional relationships with peacekeepers, revealing how economic need, social norms and unequal power shaped these encounters.

Why read? To understand how the UN’s “zero tolerance” policy on sexual exploitation and abuse breaks down in practice, and why mothers and children fathered by peacekeepers in the DRC are left without support. This mixed‑methods study shows a stark gap between UN commitments and lived reality: most women never report, almost none receive assistance, and deep poverty both drives and results from sexual encounters with peacekeepers.

Why read? To understand how community narratives in eastern DRC challenge the UN’s Zero Tolerance Policy by revealing a wide spectrum of sexual relationships between peacekeepers and local women. Using qualitative, community‑generated data and a post‑colonial feminist lens, the study shows that women’s agency is shaped by structural inequality, economic need and gendered power, not erased by it.

Why read? To understand how Haitian mothers of peacekeeper‑fathered children navigate a justice system that rarely delivers support. Based on interviews across Haiti, the study shows women were discouraged from reporting, told nothing could be done once peacekeepers left, and often faced broken promises and disclosure fatigue.

Why read? To understand how Haitian women describe sexual interactions with MINUSTAH peacekeepers in ways far more complex than the UN’s zero‑tolerance policy allows. Interviews show relationships ranged from sexual violence to transactional sex to long‑term arrangements framed as love, all shaped by poverty and unequal power.