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The United Nations Securitization of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and its Consequences

Harbakk, Bobbi-Sol LU and Westling, Ella LU (2026) FKVA23 20252
Department of Political Science
Abstract
The peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is one of the most extensive and complex missions ever carried out by the United Nations. Amongst the operational adaptation, one challenge has remained consistent; the crisis of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) committed by UN peacekeepers against the very civilians they are mandated to protect. This essay aims to explain how the framing of SEA affected the consequent management using an explanatory comparative discourse analysis. The discourse analysis utilized concepts of securitization, input- and output legitimacy, and circuits, and treated the time periods following the enforcement of the zero-tolerance policy: 2010-2015 and 2016-2024 respectively. The study... (More)
The peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is one of the most extensive and complex missions ever carried out by the United Nations. Amongst the operational adaptation, one challenge has remained consistent; the crisis of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) committed by UN peacekeepers against the very civilians they are mandated to protect. This essay aims to explain how the framing of SEA affected the consequent management using an explanatory comparative discourse analysis. The discourse analysis utilized concepts of securitization, input- and output legitimacy, and circuits, and treated the time periods following the enforcement of the zero-tolerance policy: 2010-2015 and 2016-2024 respectively. The study concludes that the SEA by mission personnel through the UN’s framing became a politicized issue in the first period, concerned with reputation, misconduct and maintaining Troop-Contributing Countries relations. In the second period, the UN’s framing securitized the SEA thereby justifying extraordinary measures outside of standard procedure such as the “naming and shaming” of TCCs. (Less)
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author
Harbakk, Bobbi-Sol LU and Westling, Ella LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
A comparative discourse analysis on the framing of SEA committed by UN Peacekeepers during the MONUSO operation
course
FKVA23 20252
year
type
L2 - 2nd term paper (old degree order)
subject
keywords
SEA, TCC, Securitization, Legitimacy, UN, Peacekeeping, Repatriation
language
English
id
9218202
date added to LUP
2026-04-10 14:45:18
date last changed
2026-04-10 14:45:18
@misc{9218202,
  abstract     = {{The peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is one of the most extensive and complex missions ever carried out by the United Nations. Amongst the operational adaptation, one challenge has remained consistent; the crisis of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) committed by UN peacekeepers against the very civilians they are mandated to protect. This essay aims to explain how the framing of SEA affected the consequent management using an explanatory comparative discourse analysis. The discourse analysis utilized concepts of securitization, input- and output legitimacy, and circuits, and treated the time periods following the enforcement of the zero-tolerance policy: 2010-2015 and 2016-2024 respectively. The study concludes that the SEA by mission personnel through the UN’s framing became a politicized issue in the first period, concerned with reputation, misconduct and maintaining Troop-Contributing Countries relations. In the second period, the UN’s framing securitized the SEA thereby justifying extraordinary measures outside of standard procedure such as the “naming and shaming” of TCCs.}},
  author       = {{Harbakk, Bobbi-Sol and Westling, Ella}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The United Nations Securitization of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and its Consequences}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}