UN imposes sex ban
11feb05
NEW YORK -- UN peacekeepers have been banned from all sex with the local population in Congo because of widespread, continuing abuse of women and girls. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan disclosed the new "non-fraternisation" regulations in a letter to the UN Security Council in which he called for 100 extra police and French-speaking investigators to "root out" the abuse and prevent further sexual exploitation.
In the past year the UN investigated 150 allegations against 50 soldiers of sexual exploitation of women and girls.
Children as young as 12 or 13 were bribed with eggs, milk or a few dollars in exchange for sex, UN reports said.
The new measures were introduced last week by US diplomat William Swing, head of the UN Mission in Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The rules would apply only to Congo, the largest of the 16 UN peacekeeping missions around the world, UN spokesman Ari Gaitanis said.
UN regulations for soldiers usually forbid sex with anyone under 18 and forced prostitution. But often officials found there was a fine line between forced and willing sex. REUTERS