Credit: United Nations
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 22 2025 – A system-wide UN survey of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), described as “grave violations of human rights”, has revealed that in 2024, there were 675 allegations reported.
A UN message to staffers last week says this is “widely believed” to be “significant underreporting” because the real numbers may be much higher.
In 2023, 758 allegations were received, compared to 534 the previous year and 265 in 2018.
Of the 2023 figure, more than half, 384, were related to UN staff and affiliated personnel. The remainder concerned personnel from partners and non-UN military forces not under UN authority.
Risks increased significantly last year, with the unprecedented rise in humanitarian crises along with significant reductions in funding, especially in high-risk and complex contexts where the UN operates, according to the UN.
The deadline for this year’s survey has been extended through September 5.
In a message to staffers, the UN Special Coordinator on Improving UN Response to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, says: “We would like to thank everyone who has completed the survey so far – your engagement reflects your strong commitment to our values ensuring a safe, respectful environment free from sexual misconduct”.
“Your voice matters. We encourage those who have yet to complete the survey to take advantage of this brief extension period to express your views. Your voice is important in identifying the challenges and in helping to strengthen our collective efforts to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse across the system.”
“Your feedback helps shape real change – last year’s inputs enabled targeted concrete actions to be taken to address specific instances of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment along with improvements to how we protect people from sexual misconduct.”
Why take part?
The UN says:
- • “We use your input to make a difference in how we prevent and address sexual misconduct
• It’s confidential – all responses are anonymous
• It’s quick and easy – it takes just a few minutes of your time!
• It’s inclusive – once again, the survey is available in 7 languages (6 official UN languages and Portuguese), and we have updated survey language to ensure accessibility for both UN and NGO personnel.”
Although progress has been made since 2017 through the establishment of new frameworks, policies and procedures, says the UN, sexual exploitation and abuse continues to occur across the UN system, particularly with peacekeeping forces.
https://conduct.unmissions.org/resources
Asked for her comments, Shihana Mohamed, a founding member, and one of the Coordinators of the United Nations Asia Network for Diversity and Inclusion, told IPS UN-ANDI firmly opposes all forms of discrimination, abuse, racism, bias, and harassment – including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, and the abuse of power and authority.
“Sexual exploitation and abuse in the UN system are not isolated incidents—they are symptoms of deeper, intersecting patterns of racism, bias, and entrenched power imbalances that silence victims and erode institutional trust,” she pointed out.
The UN-ANDI survey revealed that 17% of staff of Asian origin experienced harassment or discrimination, including threats, emotional abuse, and even physical assault. When over 60% report experiences of racism and more than half feel invisible in their workplaces, the message is clear: systemic discrimination fuels a culture where abuse persists, and justice is out of reach.
These figures are not just statistics—they are a clear indictment of a system where systemic discrimination fosters a culture in which abuse is normalized, and justice is routinely denied, she argued.
“As a global norm-setting body, the United Nations cannot afford to merely uphold a stance of zero tolerance. It must actively pursue a reality of zero occurrence—embedding accountability into both its policies and the conduct of its personnel at every level”.
Protecting dignity requires confronting not only individual misconduct, but also the structures and cultures that enable sexual exploitation and other abuses to persist.
Justice, equity, and safety cannot be aspirational values—they must be lived, enforced, and institutionalized, declared Mohamed, a Sri Lankan national and recipient of the Public Voices Fellowship on Advancing the Rights of Women and Girls – Equality Now.
UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters: “Our approach, which is centered on the rights and needs of victims, continues.”
“We are intensifying efforts to uphold the rights of victims, and to end impunity. This also includes engagement with Member States to facilitate the resolution of paternity claims.”
Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, MBE, Founder and CEO of the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN), told IPS: It’s 25 years since the Windhoek conference and declaration, when member states and the UN pledged to end peacekeepers’ sexual abuse and exploitation of women and girls in the communities they are mandated to protect.
“We have had SCR 1325 (Security Council Resolution) and other security council resolutions. There have been countless practical recommendations to mitigate such abuses,” she said.
For example, there was a recommendation to take simple mouth swabs as DNA samples of any peacekeeping and UN personnel sent out. This way any allegations of SEA could be verified immediately. But the UN leadership rejected the recommendation at the time, citing the human rights and privacy concerns for the international staff, she pointed out.
Abusers are meant to be investigated and held accountable in their own home countries. But this rarely happens.
“Yet those countries continue to provide peacekeepers. Why? There should be a rule that any incidents of SEA prevents that member state from contributing troops – until the trainings and conditions are addressed nationally”.
“We in the WPS community have also long called for increased recruitment and deployment of women as peacekeepers. The evidence shows that having just 5% more women in missions, correlates with 50% reduction of SEA. But despite the Elsie Initiatives we still see too few women recruited or given the opportunity to serve.”
The bottom line: when there is no political will or leadership honor to address such issues, they stay unresolved.
The tragedy is two fold: On the one hand we have incidents of young women being subjected to exploitation, and longer term trauma and likely ostracism, with no recourse. Their protectors became their abusers.
On the other hand, by not preventing or holding accountable the few perpetrators, the system denigrates itself and the thousands of extraordinary men and women who have dedicated their lives to service and to the protection of others, she noted.
“It’s hard to understand. But it is indicative of the abrogation of care and responsibility. The UN needs to take a firmer stance with troop contributing countries. They need to shift the shame and fear away from victims and on to the perpetrators.”
Perhaps if the peacekeepers were told that in case of any allegations, their families– mothers, daughters, wives– back home would be informed, they would think twice about abusing or exploiting local residents during deployment to war torn countries.
In a February 2025 report, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says since 2017, “we have continued to devote considerable attention and effort to improving the way the sector addresses the issue”.
System-wide coordination structures, global standards, technical tools, training, improved reporting mechanisms, and increased country-level support and capacity have all contributed to enhancing prevention, response, and transparency.
“However, challenges persist, and we remain committed to addressing these”.
“Our approach, which prioritizes the rights and dignity of victims, remains a key objective of our strategy. Efforts are ongoing to ensure victims have a voice and better access to assistance and support”.
While the Trust Fund for Victims of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse has been invaluable, very little funding remains in it. The Secretary-General urges Member States to make available adequate and sustainable support for prevention efforts and for victims and their children. Addressing the underlying issues such as inequality, extreme poverty, and lack of rule of law is crucial to ending this scourge.
The report also highlights the UN’s efforts to end impunity and ensure justice for victims. The Secretary-General calls on Member States to address accountability robustly and resolve outstanding paternity cases without delay. He remains steadfast and committed to effectively tackling this issue with the support of Member States.
“We will keep pushing forwards on this important issue,” said Guterres.
https://docs.un.org/en/A/79/789
IPS UN Bureau Report
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