UN troops buy sex from teenage refugees in Congo camp

in all seriousness...why isn't a story like this more fully exposed?...and more people held accountable in the court of public opinion? this is absolutely awful.

 

because it happens all the time to these girls over there...it would be a bunch of Congo dudes raping the girls if we weren't doing it. Doesn't make it acceptable (its still an awful story)...but its not like its so uncommon for this type of behavior to take place over there

 

and prisoners were being abused in that very same Iraqi prison!!! "it would be a bunch of Iraqi dudes" beating and shaming those prisoners if we weren't doing it.

not a good reason.

 

good enuf for me

bythe way....if these iraqi's are so upset with the treatment they are getting in Abu Gharib, send these guys to Sing Sing....or Levinworth for a month and they will BEG to go back and jerk each other off for the soldiers

 

so you're not bothered at all by the idea that these UN troops are doing this in the Congo? that they're over there to help, but they've become part of the problem? that's fine with you?

 

Max:

IMO, there are reasons why this story, as disgusting as it is, doesn't nearly measure up to the POW scandal;

1) This isn't the result of an invasion lately premised on humanitarianism, which most of the world distrusts to begin with. This is soldiers meant to be doing good taking advantage of their charges. Disgusting, but doesn't have anywhere near the same political ramifications.

2) There would seem to be no ulterior motive for these actions; nothing coordinated at all. Simply disgusting men being disgusting, not people being mistreated to further another nation;s agenda.

3) As 'UN' troops, they are sort of faceless. The UN isn't anywhere, it's everywhere, and as such it's less accute, and harder to point a finger at in blame.

4) Lastly, while it could be essentially paralleled, in graphic reality sexual demands for food doesn't evoke the same imagery or sense of shock as it would if those same soldiers were routinely raping these girls. ANd no one has been killed. These may seem like trivial distinctions, whene you consider how wrong what these men are doing is, but they matter in the public's eye.


But without the political aspect, the fact that these victims are not forced to be there, and forced to do what they are doing by physical force, the fact that it's harder to assess blame to a faceless entity, and the fact that this seems to be limited to men taking advantage of yourng girls for sex, it's sort of a very bad version of water is wet; men in a combat situation taking advantage of their authority to get sexual favors out of young women. Many men are like that. There should be repercussions, and someone in the UN's head should roll, but there's no systemic issue to address ( that I can imagine), nor any hypocrisy for an invasion revealed by these actions. As I said, disgusting, but not on the same level as the POW scandal.

 

To be fair, it is the warlords and rebels that are raping the little girls. They are prostituting themselves (not the fault of the UN) for food the feed their children, the UN is not forcing themselves on these girls. In addition, there are policies against such behavior, but the girls are so desperate that they sneak into the UN camps to sell themselves to a bunch of men who are away from home, not exposed to other women, and certainly sexually frustrated.

You are right that these troops should not be having sex with these girls, but you are dead wrong about the prisoner scandal. This is a very minor story whereas the prison scandal is a major gaffe.

 

It IS Congo dudes raping them.

 

WE aren't doing it. The Congo militiamen are the ones doing the raping. Moroccan and Uruguayan soldiers fighting for the UN are the ones giving these girls food for sex.

I'm certainly not condoning it, though prostitution is the world's oldest proffesion. As for the age, most of these girls are already mothers themselves......which uhhh.....indicates to me that their bodies have reached sexual maturity. I personally don't believe girls that young should be having sex or babies, but my beliefs are not founded in the arbitrary "18 is legal, 17 ain't" culture we have here in the states. In some cultures, sexual maturity is based on.......woo hoo--who woulda guessed it?---actual sexual maturity as determined by biology.

All that being said, this is hardly worth two pages of conversation considering all of the other atrocities happening in the DRC, but I guess if this gets a dialogue going about all the f'ed up **** going on in Africa, I guess that's ok.

 

then who cares...move on


what happens in the congo...stays in the congo

 

it will only feel like eternty, NJRocket.

 

This isn't the first time UN troops have acted this way. A while back, UN troops in a peacekeeping action did some dirty deeds which did not exclude torture of refugees (in Africa). I remember Canadian troops being accused and I believe Belgian troops as well. My point is that this isn't the first time that UN troops have done this sort of thing and it didn't get widespread attention. I doubt it'll be the last.

 

There was a scandal involving Canadian Peace keeping troops, in Africa, but I can't recall specifics. Don't think it was sexual in nature...I think it was someone got shot, or something...but as I said, can't recall, exactly. I remember the General in charge was dismissed.

 

BTW, U_T, I'm all for freedom of expression, but your sig makes it very hard to take you seriously, or try and communicate with you. Your call.

 

You're quite right in that abuse happens more frequently than we like to admit.

The rationalization of that abuse, and reluctance to address it, however, means it gets more play than it otherwise might.