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International-UN-NGOs
Liberia sex-for-aid 'widespread'
2006-05-08
Young girls in Liberia are still being sexually exploited by aid workers and peacekeepers despite pledges to stamp out such abuse, Save the Children says. Girls as young as eight are being forced to have sex in exchange for food by workers for local and international agencies, according to its report.

The agency says such abuse is continuing as people displaced by the civil war return to their villages. The UN in Liberia said it would investigate specific allegations.
"Hey Sven, check out that one!"
The United Nations promised to put safeguards in place after sexual abuse in the refugee camps of West Africa was first revealed four years ago.
"Careful, Helgo, she might be under age 10."
But a study by Save the Children, which involved speaking to more than 300 people in camps for people displaced by the war, found that abuse was still widespread. The report said that all of the respondents clearly stated that more than half of the girls in their locations were affected.

Girls from the age of eight to 18 years were being sold for sex, "commonly referred to as 'man business'," the report noted.

One 20-year-old woman told the BBC that she had been forced to have sex with a worker for the World Food Programme (WFP). "This young man had been doing it to most of my friends. And the children too don't have strong minds. They will have sex with him to get the food," Konah Brown said.
Kids, what are they coming to, huh?
The image of UN peacekeepers in West Africa has suffered but government officials and teachers are also contributing to the abuse, Save the Children says. Teachers have demanded sex in lieu of school fees, or even just to give good grades the report found.

"This cannot continue. It must be tackled," said Jasmine Whitbread, Save the Children's UK Chief Executive. "Men who use positions of power to take advantage of vulnerable children must be reported and fired.

"More must be done to support children and their families to make a living without turning to this kind of desperation."

The WFP's Greg Barrow said the organisation would be taking the latest allegations with "the greatest seriousness" and was already taking steps to investigate them. "The key here is to find what link in this chain of delivering food, and getting it to the people who need it, is perhaps abusing this position," he told the BBC.

The UN's Humanitarian Co-ordinator in Liberia, Jordan Ryan, also said specific allegations would be investigated. "Unfortunately not all international NGOs have taken it seriously. But it is a clear priority," he said. "We have never done enough until there's a zero case load. Has enough been done? Not yet. Are we working on it? You bet we are."
I guess that why we have seen all those prosections brought by the UN (Not).
Posted by:phil_b

#14  I think it was in Bosnia that Jordanian troops were turned in by a Dutch?/Scandianvian?/English unit for such behaviour, and actually turned their guns on the accusers before being stood down.

Also, complaints about the brothels set up exclusively for NATO troops' use somewhere in the former Yugoslavia.
Posted by: trailing wife   2006-05-08 22:47  

#13   I think they did that in Serbia or Kosovo didn't they?

IIRC - no (proximity to NATO troops?) or we never heard about it at the time enough to cement the UN troop rep as pedophile f*&ks. The rot starts at the top
Posted by: Frank G   2006-05-08 21:41  

#12  I think they did that in Serbia or Kosovo didn't they?
Posted by: CrazyFool   2006-05-08 21:10  

#11  Ummm, isn't this about the tenth time a story like this has been circulated in the past year or so? UN or African Union troops have a habit of pursuing their darkest delights in the Dark Continent, and it comes at the expense of young girls. SICK!
Posted by: Giulio Gavotti   2006-05-08 20:46  

#10  Time to shut down the UN.
Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412   2006-05-08 18:50  

#9  Gives a new meaning to the phrase "We are here for the children."
Posted by: Disgusting.   2006-05-08 17:46  

#8  Can Gonzales file charges against these people? It would at least look like we give a shit, and give the U.S. an oppurtunity to sentence them to years of being raped in prison if they ever came here instead of letting them prey on our children too.
Posted by: Mike N.   2006-05-08 17:45  

#7  this makes me want to puke.
Posted by: 2b   2006-05-08 17:22  

#6  "We have never done enough until there's a zero case load. Has enough been done? Not yet. Are we working on it? You bet we are."

It depends on what the definition of "working on it" is.

Also, given the AIDS situation in sub-saharan Africa, do these "aid workers" have a collective death-wish? Of course, that would partly explain the preference for young-uns.
Posted by: Xbalanke   2006-05-08 16:34  

#5  EU-N Consulate of Sex Commerce:
"What's the big deal? As long as the aid workers and peacekeepers are sexually satisfied, all is well. I must go now to meet with World Cup officials on the deplorable quality of available prostitutes-most are over 15! We want our young nookie."
Posted by: Jules   2006-05-08 09:55  

#4  "Man-business" will henceforth be known as "UN-business"
Posted by: Dept. of Euphemisms   2006-05-08 09:39  

#3  "Man-business" is serving in the military when your nation is in peril. Raping starving eight-year-old children is depravity.
Posted by: Seafarious   2006-05-08 09:36  

#2  Just the standard UN Nookie-for-food program.....

Nothing to see here....

These are not the pedophiles you are looking for...

Move along...

The problem is the UN *is* on the scene. And their pledges mean nothing.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2006-05-08 08:13  

#1  Yes, you can bet the UN is on the scene.
Money for nothin' and sex for free.
Posted by: wxjames   2006-05-08 07:22  

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