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Attempting to Serve with Pride and Dignity: A Discourse Analysis Exploring Swedish Peacekeepers' Pre-Mission Education on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

Hilltorp, Elsa LU (2023) SIMZ11 20231
Graduate School
Abstract
The United Nations peacekeeping operations is a unique global partnership to maintain international peace and security. However, several reports in the last three decades show allegations of peacekeeper soldiers sexually exploiting and abusing the civilians of host nations. While research have investigated these misconducts and how to prevent future cases, there are still questions about the preventative measures. Thus, this thesis examines and investigates peacekeeper soldiers’ pre-mission education about sexual exploitation and abuse, through critical discourse analysis and a theoretical framework of critical military theory and ideas of Foucault. To investigate this, the project uses the Swedish Armed Forces as a case study to interview... (More)
The United Nations peacekeeping operations is a unique global partnership to maintain international peace and security. However, several reports in the last three decades show allegations of peacekeeper soldiers sexually exploiting and abusing the civilians of host nations. While research have investigated these misconducts and how to prevent future cases, there are still questions about the preventative measures. Thus, this thesis examines and investigates peacekeeper soldiers’ pre-mission education about sexual exploitation and abuse, through critical discourse analysis and a theoretical framework of critical military theory and ideas of Foucault. To investigate this, the project uses the Swedish Armed Forces as a case study to interview Swedish soldiers about their perceptions. This data is reinforced by the United Nations’ educational material.

The study finds that the United Nations’ pre-mission education construct -through power, knowledge, and discourse– specific interpretations of soldiers, victims, and civilians in the peacekeeping context that affects soldiers’ work. The education also provides a standard practice of how to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse in United Nations’ peacekeeping operations. However, Swedish soldiers believe there is minor complications in how this education is presented to soldiers in troop-contributing countries that have previous knowledge of gender, sexual exploitation, and misconducts. (Less)
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author
Hilltorp, Elsa LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Attempting to Serve with Pride and Dignity
course
SIMZ11 20231
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Swedish Armed Forces, Case Study, Peacekeeping, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, Discourse analysis
language
English
id
9120718
date added to LUP
2023-06-22 09:51:01
date last changed
2023-06-22 09:51:09
@misc{9120718,
  abstract     = {{The United Nations peacekeeping operations is a unique global partnership to maintain international peace and security. However, several reports in the last three decades show allegations of peacekeeper soldiers sexually exploiting and abusing the civilians of host nations. While research have investigated these misconducts and how to prevent future cases, there are still questions about the preventative measures. Thus, this thesis examines and investigates peacekeeper soldiers’ pre-mission education about sexual exploitation and abuse, through critical discourse analysis and a theoretical framework of critical military theory and ideas of Foucault. To investigate this, the project uses the Swedish Armed Forces as a case study to interview Swedish soldiers about their perceptions. This data is reinforced by the United Nations’ educational material. 

The study finds that the United Nations’ pre-mission education construct -through power, knowledge, and discourse– specific interpretations of soldiers, victims, and civilians in the peacekeeping context that affects soldiers’ work. The education also provides a standard practice of how to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse in United Nations’ peacekeeping operations. However, Swedish soldiers believe there is minor complications in how this education is presented to soldiers in troop-contributing countries that have previous knowledge of gender, sexual exploitation, and misconducts.}},
  author       = {{Hilltorp, Elsa}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Attempting to Serve with Pride and Dignity: A Discourse Analysis Exploring Swedish Peacekeepers' Pre-Mission Education on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}