Peacekeeping missions have been marred by reports of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) against local community members. However, there is limited research on how SEA against women/girls versus men/boys is perceived in peacekeeping host societies. In 2017 we collected micro-narratives in Haiti and then conducted a thematic analysis to understand how peacekeeper-perpetrated SEA was perceived by local community members comparing SEA against women/girls versus SEA against men/boys.

Haiti’s instability at the turn of the millennium demanded unprecedented changes towards community-based peacekeeping strategies. While deemed successful by some in reducing actualised violence, the UN Peace Support Operation, MINUSTAH, was wrought with allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) and mired by the inadvertent introduction of cholera. To understand the host community’s experiences with MINUSTAH, data was collected around seven UN bases from 10 locations in Haiti between June and August 2017.

Many peace support operations have faced allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse perpetrated by UN personnel against members of local communities. Some of these intimate relations result in children being born but there is little empirical data on the experiences of women and girls who conceive and bear these children. We analyse 265 self interpreted narratives from community members in Haiti about children fathered by UN personnel and born to local women or girls.

Sexual abuse and exploitation (SEA) perpetrated by UN peacekeepers while on mission is a violation of human rights and undermines the goal of upholding human rights in countries that host peacekeeping missions. In addition to survivors, children fathered by peacekeepers are also victims of SEA that need protection. Stigma poses negative life course consequences for SEA survivors and their peacekeeper-fathered children. However, there is a considerable lack of empirical research concerning the stigma experiences of SEA survivors and their children in post-colonial contexts.

Feminist scholarship has analyzed the gendered dynamics of national- and international-level risk factors for peacekeeper-perpetrated sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA); however, the gendered dynamics within the host country have not been adequately considered. Using the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) as a case study, this research analyzes gender differences within community-level perceptions of SEA.

The UN maintains a zero-tolerance policy on sexual interactions between peacekeepers and beneficiaries of assistance. Our research describes the lived experience of engaging sexually with UN peacekeepers during Mission des Nations Unies pour la Stabilisation en Haiti (MINUSTAH) from the perspectives of Haitian women/girls. Eighteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with Haitian women raising children fathered by MINUSTAH peacekeepers. Transcripts were analyzed according to empirical phenomenology.Adverse socio-economic conditions were key contextual factors.

The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) has been marred by reports of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) perpetrated against local women/girls. However, there is very limited empirical evidence on the community’s perceptions regarding these sexual interactions. Through a mixed-methods approach, this article examines community experiences and perceptions of SEA, with three prominent themes arising: peacekeepers as tourists, peacekeepers as sexual exploiters and abusers, and peacekeepers as ideal partners.

Background Abortion-related mortality accounts for 8% of all global maternal deaths and 97% of the estimated 25 million unsafe abortions performed each year occur in low- and middle-income countries. Haiti has the highest rate of maternal mortality in the western hemisphere and to further understand the circumstances of induced abortion in Haiti, the current work uses data from the 2012 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) to describe the methods of induced abortion in Haiti between 2007–2012 and to identify potential factors associated with use of different abortion methods.

Background: Military presence in fragile settings leads to complex and multifaceted interactions between local women and girls of the host country and foreign military personnel. Children Born of War are one consequence of sexual interactions, whether consensual or not, between foreign armies or peacekeeping forces and women and girls of the host country. One particular group of Children Born of War are children fathered by UN peacekeeping personnel and born to civilian women and girls who reside in countries that host peace operations.

During the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), reports of sexual abuse and exploitation and children fathered by peacekeepers were brought forward to the UN. In 2017, a cross-sectional mixed-methods survey was administered by Haitian research assistants using SenseMaker® (Cognitive Edge, Singapore), a rapid data collection tool that allows participants to share a narrative on a topic of interest.