‘MINUSTAH is doing positive things just as they do negative things’: nuanced perceptions of a UN peacekeeping operation amidst peacekeeper-perpetrated sexual exploitation and abuse in Haiti

ABSTRACT 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. We find that Haitian perceptions on reporting, justice and responsibility for SEA are in juxtaposition with MINUSTAH’s efforts towards stabilisation and security. While participants identified positive perceptions of MINUSTAH that aligned with the novel community violence reduction strategy employed in Haiti, outstanding concerns around SEA remain. We recommend the UN addresses its environment of impunity, alters its practices and policies to be victim/survivor-centred and improve transparency and communication with host communities. The UN must make the systemic changes necessary to address impunity or provide reparations for peacekeeper-perpetrated SEA.


Origins and purported success of UN peacekeeping in Haiti
Observing politically-motivated violence, sexual abuse and closure of public health institutions, the United Nations (UN) sanctioned the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) in 2004. 1 The UN judged MINUSTAH to have broadly achieved its mission of protecting civilians from the threat of armed gangs, as indicated by the peaceful Haitian elections in 2009. 2 However, the 2010 earthquake threw this progress into turmoil. 3 The UN subsequently expanded MINUSTAH's mandate to support recovery, reconstruction and another'. 24 Sexual abuse is the 'actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions'. 25 Because of the inherent unequal power dynamics, interactions between local host community members and peacekeepers are at risk of being coercive and by extension, any fraternisation is assumed to have a high likelihood of being exploitative or abusive. As such, most UN missions with military and police personnel employ a strict 'non-fraternisation' policy meaning any sexual relationship with a beneficiary of assistance is a breach of conduct. 26 While the 2003 bulletin outlined responsibilities for implementation of the zerotolerance policy, the 2005 'Zeid report' resulted in more substantial policy change around SEA. The 'Zeid Report', commissioned by the Secretary General (SG), provided a 'Comprehensive strategy to eliminate future sexual exploitation and abuse in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations'. 27 Using recommendations from the report, in 2007, the UN amended its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with troop and police contributing countries (TPCCs). 28 The updated MoU underscored the responsibilities and assurances for carrying out investigations of SEA and holding perpetrators criminally responsible. 29 This included authorisation of the UN to conduct preliminary investigations on reports of SEA and the obligation of a TPCC to share regular updates on the progress on such investigations. Reports of SEA from victims, witnesses, community-based complaint mechanisms, NGOs and mission staff are submitted to and assessed by Mission Heads or the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS). 30 When the assessment yields sufficient evidence, the allegation is recorded as SEA and the UN notifies the implicated Member state who then has 10 days to respond and launch an investigation. 31 Although the TPCCs are responsible for investigations and criminal prosecutions involving military personnel, 32 the UN will launch an investigation should the Member state be unwilling or unable to do so. 33 In the case of serious misconduct, the UN can repatriate mission personnel with the expectation of criminal proceedings in the perpetrator's jurisdiction. 34 Additionally, in February 2017, the SG launched 'Special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and abuse: a new approach', outlining further improvements to the UN's strategy for preventing and responding to SEA. 35 The report detailed updated strategies to improve reporting structures, strengthen investigations and end impunity.
Despite these efforts to reform prevention of and accountability for SEA, justice and transparency are still lacking on the part of the UN and implicated TPCCs. 36 Disciplinary action over military contingents is still delegated to the TPCC 37 and Member states are not legally obligated to prosecute even in cases of serious crimes such as rape and sex with minors. 38 Even in high-profile investigations, as in the case of Sri Lankan peacekeepers noted above, it remains unclear as to whether the perpetrators ever faced imprisonment for their convictions, and it is unlikely that victims were awarded reparations. 39 Such failures in justice for acts of sexual misconduct contribute to negative perceptions held by Haitians towards MINUSTAH and the UN, 40 and are in opposition to MINUSTAH's successful establishment of stability in Haiti.

Contributions
Host community member knowledge of peacekeeper-perpetrated SEA has been shown to negatively impact perceptions of peacekeepers and of the UN. 41 This has the potential to undermine the very essence of peacekeeping missions. 42 Although MINUSTAH is judged by some policymakers as successful based on the core task of stabilisation, this purported success is juxtaposed with the negative press and negative impacts of peacekeeperperpetrated SEA. There is limited empirical evidence examining host community positive and negative perceptions of PSO, particularly within the context of peacekeeperperpetrated SEA. To address this evidence gap, our current work uses data from Haiti to study the local community's nuanced perceptions of MINUSTAH within the context of mission successes and mainstream reports of SEA. We aim to understand how these positive and negative aspects of the PSO impacted MINSTUAH's reputation in the local community and to identify key strategies to reconcile SEA within the context of peacekeeping in Haiti.

Setting
Cross-sectional data were collected around seven UN bases across 10 locations in Haiti between June and August 2017. In selecting UN bases, years of base operation, size, TPCCs staffing the base, urban/rural designation, as well as geographic variation were considered. Interviews were conducted within an approximate 30 km radius of each base and trained Haitian research assistants recruited participants in naturalistic settings such as markets and transportation hubs. Full details of study implementation have been published elsewhere. 43

Participants and sampling
Male and female community members over the age of 11 were eligible to participate. We included adolescents aged 11 and older because anecdotal evidence suggested that they were affected by peacekeeper-perpetrated SEA and participatory research can bring attention and value to the experiences of this vulnerable group. 44 As noted by Graham, the involvement of children in research is necessary to fulfil their right to participate in matters that affect them 45 and thus we thought it was unethical to exclude them. The methodology minimised risk by, as shown in Appendix A, not asking about SEA or sexual interactions, and participants could therefore choose to talk about whatever experience they wanted. Additionally, neither the introduction nor the research assistants mentioned sexual interactions with peacekeepers or abuse. Furthermore, two female researchers from Komisyon Fanm Viktim pou Viktim (KOFAVIV) who had experience working with survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) were immediately available to support participants at the time of the interview. Finally, all participants were offered referral to Bureau des Avocats Internationaux for legal counsel and to KOFAVIV for additional psychosocial assistance. On these bases, it was deemed acceptable to include younger adolescents. We considered girls affected by SEA mature minors and parental consent was not sought since involving parents likely would have introduced bias as well as potential parental conflict and/or abuse. 46 The literature supports that there are situations where it is appropriate to not seek parental consent, 47 including emancipated minors 48 or when the research involved was concerning sexuality. 49 To include a wide array of perspectives, effort was made to recruit a variety of participant subgroups including women/girls who had interacted with peacekeeping personnel, as well as family members and friends of women/girls who had interacted with peacekeeping personnel, in addition to community members and community leaders. A convenience sample was recruited from potential participants who were visible in public areas around the selected UN bases.

Survey
We collected survey data using SenseMaker®, a narrative capture tool. SenseMaker extracts meaning from micro-narratives shared by participants on a topic of interest (in this case interactions between women/girls and peacekeeping personnel). 50 The SenseMaker survey was written in English and then translated to Haitian Kreyòl by a native speaker. To check for accuracy, it was then independently back translated to English with discrepancies resolved by consensus. We pilot tested the survey with 54 participants in Haiti. Results of the pilot test were used to improve ease of response, clarity and translation inaccuracies.
The SenseMaker survey presented participants with three open-ended prompting questions about interactions between women/girls and peacekeeping personnel (see Appendix A). In response to the prompt of their choice, participants were requested to share a brief narrative, which was audio recorded on the tablet. Participants then provided their interpretation of the experiences shared in the micro-narrative by responding to a series of predefined questions. The survey ended with a series of demographic questions presented in multiple-choice format.

Study implementation
Twelve Haitian research assistants were recruited from two local partners. This encompassed six female and four male undergraduate social work students from Enstiti Travay Sosyal ak Syans Sosyal (ETS), and two female researchers from (KOFAVIV). Male research assistants primarily interviewed male participants and female research assistants primarily interviewed female participants. A four-day training was conducted with the research team immediately prior to data collection. Training included SenseMaker methodology, research ethics, use of an iPad, a detailed question-by-question review of the survey, how to upload data, as well as programme referrals and protocol for handling adverse events. Interviews were conducted in Haitian Kreyòl using iPad Mini 4's. Native Kreyòl speakers transcribed and translated the audio-recorded micro-narratives from Haitian Kreyòl to English.

Data selection
Of the total 2541 self-interpreted narratives collected, 1221 stories designated by the interviewer in multiple choice questions as being about an a priori topic of interest (sexual relations between peacekeeping personnel and local community members, peacekeeperfathered children and cholera) were transcribed and translated. In an Excel database, these 1221 narratives were searched for the following keywords: sex, rape, sleep, girl, women, pregnant, violence and violate. The keyword search provided a sample of 632 stories.
Independently, another team member had screened all 1221 transcripts for any mention of sexual relations adding another 78 narratives and giving a total of 710. Those 710 narratives were independently screened by two investigators (C.K. and S.B.) to identify stories meeting the following inclusion criteria: about or mentioning sexual interactions between local community members and UN peacekeeping personnel. Stories that have only a single phrase or sentence about sexual relations between local community members and UN peacekeepers without any contextualisation or detail sufficient for qualitative analysis were excluded at this stage. Screening results were compared between the two investigators and discrepancies were resolved through consensus. The final sample included in the analysis was 381 as illustrated in Figure 1.

Analysis
A thematic analysis using inductive coding and latent theming was conducted as per Braun and Clark. 51 Two researchers (C.K. and S.B.) independently created first order codes using Dedoose 8.2.14. Employing methodology proposed by Saldaña, each researcher completed line-by-line coding to identify the diverse perspectives that emerged from each shared narrative. 52 Coding inter-rater reliability was excellent with a pooled Cohen's kappa of 0.82. Codes were subsequently organised into conceptual themes to understand the local perceived risks and benefits of hosting a PSO. Constant comparison ensured that each story was considered in relation to other stories while memoing was used to capture questions and additional insights. We maintained an audit trail of all coding and memos. C.K. and S. B. engaged in triangulation and critical dialogue during the analysis and the team made every effort to be sensitive to the relevant literature base.
G.F. reviewed the final sample for narrative passages that identified any positive aspects of MINUSTAH, their presence, or their mission and categorised them by the topics they described. These categories were not pre-determined and so are provided in the results. To note, any perception that involved a transactional or exploitative event, such as a MINUSTAH agent providing food to Haitian women to initiate a sexual relationship, was not described as positive.
We provide counts and a Fisher's exact test for independence for negative stories by participant location, calculated using R software (R Core Team, 2017) and SAS Studio Release 3.8.

Ethics
No identifying information was collected and all data were therefore confidential from the point of collection. Informed consent was obtained in Kreyòl and was indicated by tapping the consent box on the tablet. Monetary or other compensation was not offered since the survey was brief (typically about 15 minutes). The Queen's University Health Sciences and Affiliated Teaching Hospitals Research Ethics Board approved this study (protocol # 6020398).

Results
Over two thirds of the participants were male (71.9 per cent) and under the age of 35 (71.7 per cent). As Table 1 illustrates, a majority had average household income (60.6 per cent) and had partially or fully completed secondary education (59.6 per cent). Household income was measured by using a proxy of access to a radio, mobile phone, refrigerator/freezer, motorised vehicle and/or generator, inverter or a sun panel to provide electricity.
Our thematic analysis focused on the juxtaposition of risks and benefits of hosting a PSO using 381 micro-narratives that considered peacekeeper-perpetrated SEA. Four major themes were identified and are explored below along with illustrative quotes to support each: (1) Accepting the bad because they also do good; (2) No mechanism for recourse; (3) Who is responsible; and (4) Proposals for the way forward.

Accepting the bad because they also do good
The review for specific positive perceptions of MINUSTAH's presence and mission supported some qualified conclusions. Fifty-six participants, 44 male and 12 female, provided a total of 95 positive perceptions. These were placed into 10 positive perception categories. A participant could have provided more than one perception. Table 2 Table 3 provides the number and correlation of positive and negative stories with participant location.
In 11 narratives, nine male and two female participants empathised with MINUSTAH's mission, stating that MINUSTAH had responded to a real need or that MINUSTAH was providing services that Haiti could/would not have had otherwise. This categorisation includes those participants describing how, once admitting a need, MINUSTAH could have been more beneficial through closer cooperation with local institutions or by leveraging MINUSTAH's resources for goals other than security.
The empathetic perceptions articulated Haitian community members' understanding of MINUSTAH's positives outcomes and how they might outweigh negatives. For example, one participant noted MINUSTAH was providing a public good that Haitian institutions could not provide.
Because what do we have ourselves, in terms of security, that would replace them and do what they were useful in doing?

Single male, aged 25-34 describing Brazilian MINUSTAH soldiers in Cité Soleil
Another empathetic participant identified the need for intervention but desired greater partnership between MINUSTAH and Haitian government/institutions.

Single male, aged 45-54 describing Argentinian MINUSTAH soldiers in Charlie Log Base/ Tabarre
Within their micro-narratives, 10.8 per cent of participants (n = 41) spoke about the important contributions that MINUSTAH made to their communities while also pointing out the negative aspects. Given the dataset's focus on sexual interactions between local community members and peacekeepers, the negative aspect most often involved SEA perpetrated against local community members. Participants discussing SEA were more likely to be male (n = 36, X 2 = 5.52, p = 0.019), under 35 years old (n = 34, X 2 = 4.34, p = 0.037), and had completed secondary school or higher (n = 22, X 2 = 4.92, p = 0.027). The following male participant in Port Salut talked about how peacekeepers from Uruguay were useful to the community because they provided improved security and lighting. MINUSTAH used to do us a lot of good, they were very useful. Our security was ensured. They also had a system to provide light. The area was never in the dark. They also had a security system . . .

Single male, aged 25-34 describing Uruguayan MINUSTAH soldiers in Port Salut
He went on to discuss young children being raped by peacekeepers and explicitly acknowledged that MINUSTAH's departure (which occurred several months after data collection in October 2017) was 'both good and bad for us'. On the other hand, while they were helping us, they also put us down socially. They raped little girls as well as little boys . . . So, the fact that MINUSTAH left is both good and bad for us. It is not good for us that they are abusing the youth in the area. They offer them money in exchange for sex. The good things were that our security was ensured we could walk around no matter what time and we had great light in the area.
Narratives such as this one shed light on the fact that 'security' may not be a uniform ideal experienced by all people equally, particular between men, women and children. For example, the participant notes both the rape and sexual exploitation of children and youth which by all accounts would be taken to mean that it is unsafe. This is contrasted with his reference to improved security for community members like himself 'who could walk around no matter what time' as a result of the PSO's presence. In the later statement, the participant is presumably referring to less organised crime and fewer armed gangs. Nineteen male participants and four female participants mentioned security as a positive, and of those, 15 males and one female also specifically mentioned rape in their narrative. Two of the male participants and the one female participant qualified security in terms of countering gang violence or serving alongside the police. In this regard, it might be more accurate to conclude that one type of security is being traded for another (i.e. community security is better overall but the PSO's presence puts women and children at greater risk of SEA). For other participants, the biggest advantage to hosting a PSO was the economic opportunities that arose from the 'peace economy'. For instance, this male participant in Port Salut expressed his love of Uruguayan peacekeepers because they provided jobs in the community. He notes the potential benefit that would have come from the PSO opening a school while also pointing out that girls in the community were 'having their [MINUSTAH's]

babies'.
MINUSTAH is an entity that I like a lot. It's true when they came here there are so many girls having their babies. Some went back to their country, there are also those who came to look for their children, there are also those who do not know who the father of their children is . . . I love the MINUSTAH, because they came and gave us work. They would have opened a school, but the candidate did not want to stay in the country.

Single male, aged 18-24 describing Uruguayan MINUSTAH soldiers in Port Salut
As seen in Table 2, more male participants than female participants mentioned at least one benefit to MINUSTAH while simultaneously mentioning SEA or rape specifically. The contrast was most apparent with security, empathy and infrastructure building, however, these associations were not statistically significant. It is not clear whether perceptions of MINUSTAH were gendered, or if SEA had a suppressive effect on the overall reporting of positive perceptions by female participants.

No mechanism for recourse
Many participants who spoke of peacekeeper-perpetrated SEA expressed their frustration about not having a mechanism for recourse (n = 38). This was more likely to be reported by participants in the 'well-off' income group (n = 9, X 2 = 6.99, p = 0.030) as well as male participants (n = 35, X 2 = 8.27, p = 0.004). Even in cases of rape involving children, some participants indicated that there was no effective mechanism for parents to formally complain. For instance, the following male participant in Saint-Marc indicated that he did not know where to go to lodge a complaint about young girls being raped by Nepalese peacekeepers.
There are other areas in the society, again, when we look at a lot of young girls and that MINUSTAH rapes and there are those that they raped, that they don't . . . they release them and there is not, there is not really a place where we can go to complain for them . . .

Single male, aged 25-34 describing Nepalese MINUSTAH soldiers in Saint-Marc
In some cases, the frustration about not being able to access justice was compounded by the fact that peacekeepers had fathered and left behind children without providing any financial, material, or psychological support to them. For instance, in the following narrative, shared by a man from Port Salut in reference to Brazilian troops, the participant speaks of a betrayal of trust and states 'We have no one to call. We are fighting alone . . . '. Given the degree of local poverty and the challenges of single parenting, the economic and emotional burden of raising these children cannot be overestimated.
They came to help us, but now it is a problem for us [. . .] The MINUSTAH did us wrong in Port-Salut. They also betrayed the trust of their own country. I cannot count how many children the MINUSTAH left behind. We have no one to call. We are just fighting alone to raise these children. Also, there are young men that are feeling bad because they were raped. I am telling the Haitian government that they must think of the people of Port-Salut so that no more MINUSTAH can come to step on the people.

Single male, aged 18-24 describing Brazilian MINUSTAH soldiers in Port Salut
Many participants like this felt their pleas for assistance were going unheard and as though they had nowhere to turn. As one man in Port Salut said in reference to Uruguayan peacekeepers, 'Raping young women, having babies here and there. We are screaming for help, help, help'.
Furthermore, there was a recognition among some participants that foreign peacekeepers were protected by immunity which made justice inaccessible. In the narrative that follows, the participant indicates that 'if it was a Haitian, I would know where to go' in reference to the Chilean peacekeeper who raped and impregnated his cousin. The participant ends by asking for justice for his cousin and requesting that MINUSTAH take responsibility.
There are many women that MINUSTAH got pregnant and do not care for their children. I had my little cousin, while she was going to the aviation market in Cap Haitian, the MINUSTAH raped her. She also got pregnant. The MINUSTAH went back to his country and it is her that is trying to care for the child now. To me, I find this action to be a crime because if it was a Haitian, I would know where to go. However, MINUSTAH has the power to do what they want. I ask for justice for my cousin and for the MINUSTAH to take responsibility.

Single male, age not provided, describing Chilean MINUSTAH soldiers in Cap-Haïtien
The following participant sheds additional light on the frustrations of Haitian community members who experienced, or had family members who experienced, SEA. This man interviewed in Hinche highlights that going to the local authorities to report a rape is ineffective because MINUSTAH has authority over the Haitian government.
It is common practice, MINUSTAH takes young girls away from their schools or parents' home and rape them. Although fully aware of such crimes, victims and their parents have no recourse to submit any formal complaints. They could have gone to local authorities. But it is a conflictual situation. MINUSTAH in and of itself has more authority than our local government.

Single male, aged 25-34 describing unidentified MINUSTAH soldiers in Hinche
Similar sentiments were raised with regards to the MINUSTAH-related cholera outbreak in which some families affected by the deadly disease indicated that Haiti was not under Haitian authority but rather was occupied by white [UN] foreigners. 53 When considered within the context of Haiti's colonial history and American occupation from 1915 to 1934, these findings are understandable and not unexpected.

Who is responsible?
Both female and male participants shared their perspectives on who should be held accountable for the sexual misconduct of MINUSTAH peacekeepers in Haiti. Opinions varied but were roughly divided into three groups -Haitian authorities, the UN and individual peacekeepers. A majority of participants (n = 28, 75.7 per cent) strictly discussed the importance of Haitian authorities, while only 16.2 per cent (n = 6) felt the UN alone was responsible. The participant's age was significantly correlated with their perspective; participants who discussed Haitian accountability were more likely to be under 35 years old (Fisher's Exact Test p = 0.023). Few participants (n = 3, 8.1 per cent) noted that both the UN and the Haitian authorities should be held accountable.

Haitian authorities
Among those who believed that the Haitian government should be held responsible for MINUSTAH's sexual misconduct, some called for increased security by Haitian authorities so that a peacekeeping mission would no longer be needed. One male participant from Port Salut referred to 'bad community leaders' and concluded that it was because of this leadership that 'we ended up being the victims of rape'. Another participant in Morne Cassé/Fort Liberté presented his request as follows.
I would like for our leaders to assume their responsibilities to strengthen our security system, to avoid being in a position where strangers are coming to help us and abuse the people.

Married male, aged 25-34 describing American MINUSTAH soldiers in Morne Cassé/Fort Liberté
Other participants spoke specifically about how MINUSTAH personnel had committed crimes according to Haitian law. It was also well recognised that sexual misconduct was contrary to the UN's code of conduct. Recognising that, this male participant in Hinche called for the Haitian government to take charge and to do so quickly.
Haitian law is supposed to have punishments enforced against MINUSTAH for crimes committed when you take the women and children, young women, when you imagine all these people raped by MINUSTAH officials [. . .] We're saying that MINUSTAH is in contradiction with UN norms, against their code of conduct [. . .] I believe the state needs to address these cases because many things need to change in the country and that the government must take things in charge and must do them in a timely manner.

Single male, aged 45-54 describing Nepalese MINUSTAH soldiers in Hinche
Frustration with the local authorities was clear with one male participant in Saint-Marc reporting, 'We do not have a Haitian government that is thinking about us' and another in Cap-Haïtien who said that the government must do an 'investigation to find out who the victims are'. Participants discussed unemployment and the economic plight of those raising peacekeeper-fathered children. The following male participant in Port Salut called on the Haitian government to create a fund in support of the children and their mothers.
MINUSTAH impregnated a bunch of young people, who are unemployed and have nothing. They somehow became pregnant because of the MINUSTAH. I would like to ask the government, to create a fund through the MINUSTAH so that these people can benefit from it.

The UN
In contrast, some participants focused their calls for justice and reparation on the UN and on MINUSTAH rather than Haitian authorities. In some cases, the PSO was referred to as a coloniser, as with this man in Cité Soleil who said, 'Because we're victims a lot at the hands of MINUSTAH, the coloniser, they are supposed to give reparations'. Similarly, this male participant from Hinche asked for restitution for SEA victims, pointing out that the UN had violated human rights and that Haitian citizens would not be allowed to behave similarly in the TPCCs.
They raped a lot of women in the population, leaving a lot of children in the country. Normally, if we have something to highlight, it would be to ask the MINUSTAH to pay restitution to Haitian women that they left with children in their arms, they do not have anyone to help them -this is a violation. This is a violation of human rights. Because you cannot come to a country and do anything. We would not be able to do that in their home.

Married male, aged 35-44 describing MINUSTAH soldiers in Hinche
Following from that, another participant in Port Salut reflected on the UN's lack of response to sexual misconduct including rape of a disabled child by asking, 'if the United Nations is dead' He also called into question the UN's priorities and mission, speculating that the UN's loyalties lie with powerful global north nations.
The MINUSTAH raped young boys, I remember a young boy, a minor, that was an amputee, handicapped, that was so sad. He was passing by on his crutches, the MINUSTAH caught him, and a whole lot of them raped the poor thing [. . .] We are asking if the United Nations is dead, or is the United Nations there to support big countries only, or is it also on the side of small nations?

Individual peacekeepers
Although less frequent, other participants called for the individual peacekeepers who had perpetrated SEA to be held responsible for their actions. In reference to Argentinian peacekeepers, one man in Cité Soleil specifically asked the peacekeeper fathers to support their children, 'I would like for them to take responsibility, to take the initiative to look for and re-join those young girls so that they can help them with the children'. Another participant in Cité Soleil argued the case even more strongly, pleading for some international legal action mandating that the peacekeeper fathers take care of their children left behind in Haiti. He also notes that affected families have little success in reaching peacekeeper-fathers after they are repatriated.
They have no means either way to contact that person. We should pursue them in an international court and tell them that they will have to come back to take care of their child. Because they are the ones who impregnated them [. . .] they are your children. Just make them come back to take care of their children, we cannot afford this [. . .] That is the reason while when they do that to the ladies, we are the ones who are paying the consequences.

Married male, aged 35-44 describing Nepalese MINUSTAH soldiers in Cité Soleil
Another participant in Port-au-Prince suggested that the most effective way to hold peacekeeper fathers responsible for their children in Haiti was to require a DNA test from peacekeepers so that they can be accurately identified before they leave Haiti. Although the participant requests that the fathers send money for their children, he does not comment on how this could or should be enforced. MINUSTAH impregnates our girls and they turn their backs on them. So who will take care of these children, another man will take care of them. That means these men have children in the country. Before they leave the country, we need to do a DNA test for everyone who has children so that they can send money to help these women.

Proposals for the way forward
In addition to identifying who should be held responsible, 19.2 per cent (n = 73) of participants put forward suggestions for a future course of action given the sexual misconduct of MINUSTAH personnel in Haiti. The majority of these participants were male (n = 60, 82.2 per cent) and located in Cité Soleil (n = 24, 32.9 per cent), Hinche (n = 15, 20.6 per cent) and Port Salut (n = 15, 20.6 per cent). One of the three sub themes identified here was that the UN must leave Haiti (n = 28), as this Cité Soleil man so clearly stated, 'make MINUSTAH leave [. . .]

Single female, aged 25-34 describing unidentified MINUSTAH personnel in Cité Soleil
There were sporadic cases in which participants noted that although justice was still lacking, at least MINUSTAH peacekeepers were no longer present in their communities, such as this man in Cité Soleil who noted, 'Just to the present, he [the victim] has not gotten justice. But the blue helmets . . . were made to return to their country'.
The second sub theme, also illustrated throughout a number of earlier narratives, related to reparations (n = 21). One participant in Hinche stated the following while acknowledging that it would not be possible for the UN to compensate for all MINUSTAH's wrongdoings, 'MINUSTAH must pay restitution for acts of violence committed in Haiti even when we know they cannot repay us for all they have done to us'. A man in Port Salut requested that the reparations be taken directly from the salaries of the peacekeeper fathers who had abandoned their children in Haiti.
Problems like they get the girls pregnant . . . the girls were abandoned with their babies. I think they could have indemnified the parents of the girls from the salaries of the MINUSTAH agents.

Married male, aged 25-34 describing Uruguayan MINUSTAH soldiers in Port Salut
The third noteworthy sub theme was 'agents of change' or individuals who were specifically identified by participants as having played a role in preventing or deterring peacekeeping personnel from perpetrating SEA against local community members (n = 19). For instance, a male participant in Saint-Marc recalled the following scenario, in which a commander-in-chief was attempting to enforce the zero-tolerance policy. This in turn, meant that the peacekeepers looked for more covert ways to engage sexually with local women and girls.
Then when the commander-in-chief does not want, they made a hole in the wall, and the girls appear with their buttocks in the holes to have sex. Then after leaving, the agents give them US$ 5.

Single male, aged 11-17 describing Argentinian MINUSTAH soldiers in Saint-Marc
In another example, the following man in Hinche spoke about the commander or chief taking action if the SEA were to be discovered.
The soldiers pay 200 to 300 dollars, so they keep it quiet in the fear of their commanders [. . .]. If the commander or the chief found out about a situation like this, they would transfer the soldier to a different location, camp or division, or send him on so called vacation and the population is not even aware of it.

Single male, aged 25-34 describing Canadian MINUSTAH soldiers in Hinche
It is interesting to note, however, that the commander-in-chief would transfer the implicated peacekeeper or 'send him on a so-called vacation'. It is unclear what vacation really refers to and it could perhaps mean that the individual in question was put on leave while an investigation was pending. Given the reference to transferring the peacekeeper to another location, it seems more likely, however, that those implicated were being sent elsewhere in an effort to conceal the sexual misconduct, as the participant suggests with 'the population is not even aware of it'.

Discussion
While there has been some scholarly work around the unintended consequences of peacekeeping missions 54 there is sparse empiric evidence about how local community members perceive the positives and negatives of PSOs. The absence of such data is especially noteworthy in Haiti which hosted particularly controversial PSOs for years despite there not being active war in the country. In the current analysis, we add to the scholarly literature about unintended consequences of PSO by bringing forward the voices of local community members. We also move away from the dichotomous characterisation of PSOs as either a success or a failure by presenting the nuanced experiences of host community members in the face of SEA. It is clear from our analysis that community members attempted to reconcile the positive aspects of MINUSTAH (improved security, economic benefits and so on) with sexual misconduct perpetrated by its members, while struggling with the lack of mechanisms for recourse when SEA was committed. The observed difference between the number of male and female participants reporting a positive perception alongside SEA particularly concerning security, is notable. However, how this meaningfully reflects a gendered difference in the experience of living in a community with MINUSTAH remains uncertain considering the unequal representation of female participants in the study. Given that sexual misconduct and mishandling of SEA allegations have negatively impacted the reputation of PSOs and of the UN more broadly, these findings contribute to the ongoing discourse about how the UN needs to address perceptions of mistrust and disillusionment. Regardless of the accuracy of individual narratives, there is widespread belief that MINUSTAH peacekeepers sexually exploited and abused local women and children. Although there are no active PSOs in Haiti at this time, reconciliation remains relevant and important for other UN entities actively engaged in programming in Haiti (i.e. UNICEF and UNFPA). Furthermore, should there be consideration of any future PSO deployments, the results will be key for understanding engagement with the host community which has been shown to influence the success of PSOs in meeting their mandates. 55 Finally, although the contexts vary substantially, there may be some lessons learned from the Haitian context that are useful for PSOs in other settings.
This study's participants identified positive perceptions of MINUSTAH that aligned with its CVR strategic goals and reduction of coercive police actions in favour of institutional capacity building and integration of at-risk youth through community engagement. Because participants' positive perceptions of MINUSTAH, namely security, financial and infrastructure establishment, relate to the CVR activities, they provide qualified evidence of the strategy's success. Yet, participant perceptions, expressing a desire for development outside of security concerns, also reflected a main criticism of CVRs. That is, experts similarly felt the CVR strategy lacked long term development impacts. 56 However, this criticism is debatable. CVR activities did provide some sustainable development structures, as observed with the CVR-partnered NGO, Viva Rio. 57 Viva Rio was invited by the UN in 2004 to work alongside MINUSTAH and implement the CVR strategy. Their projects varied across socio-economic and environmental topics, and included establishing improved communication channels between community members, local leaders, politicians and international agency personnel. 58 It is currently unclear if CVRs help to mitigate the risk of UN personnel-perpetrated SEA. Indeed, instances of sexual exploitation during CVR projects were identified by UN monitoring and evaluation staff. 59 Nevertheless, CVRs are arguably more open to effective regulatory and judicial oversight because CVR objectives are implemented by representatives from relevant missions (including gender experts), are in concert with local decision makers and incorporate a 'bottom-up' design. 60 That these communityconnected strategies are more open to regulatory oversight may help circumvent the current problems of holding SEA peacekeeper perpetrators accountable. Despite MINUSTAH's success in achieving some degree of stability, participants were exceptionally inclined to express frustrations related to reporting SEA. This has been well documented elsewhere in the literature. For instance, an expert mission on SEA prevention efforts among several PSO, including MINUSTAH, also noted multiple overlaid reporting mechanisms, long investigative delays and unrealistic standards of evidence that would have to stand up to scrutiny in New York. 61 The 2013 expert panel further highlighted that local community members often had difficulty navigating the UN's complex SEA reporting mechanisms, 62 which was still an issue raised by participants in the current study. The expert panel, which found that the UN's own system compromised victims'/survivors' access to justice and protection, also reported that at times UN personnel failed to report sexual misconduct by their peers because of a general sense that 'nothing will come of the complaint'. 63 This perception was also clearly articulated by Haitian community members who participated in this study. Similarly, in Somali, Human Rights Watch reported that some survivors of peacekeeper-perpetrated SEA did not report the sexual misconduct because they questioned the purpose of complaining when there was such limited recourse available to them. 64 These results are consistent with our findings in Haiti. Finally, in their recent publication, REDRESS also highlighted how the UN's current system protects peacekeeping personnel without providing justice for victims/survivors. For example, in their 2020 report, they document how justice was evaded even in the case where a publicly leaked video clearly showed five peacekeeping personnel sexually assaulting a male youth. 65 According to the report, those involved were frustrated by the lack of involvement of the UN and Haitian authorities and with the fact that justice was left up to the Uruguayan authorities who brought the case to a domestic court with the resultant sanctions not being proportional to the violent nature of the crime. 66 Similar sentiments of frustration were echoed in the current research with participants clearly calling for the Haitian authorities and the UN to hold perpetrators of SEA accountable.
The UN acknowledges that cases of SEA are under-reported. Improving transparency and communication are important for remedying this and also for rebuilding confidence in the UN. Much effort has been invested in improving reporting mechanisms in the DRC, where Community Based Complaint Networks were developed through engagement with local organisations, removing the necessity of reporting directly to the UN. 67 However, our data suggests that, if adopted as a policy in Haiti, community based complaints networks are likely to succeed only if they are coupled with attempts to address impunity, implement a victim-centred approach and improve transparency and communication with host community members. The latter could be achieved through focused community outreach, training of civil society organisations and consultation with community members to identify important barriers and issues to reporting.
In conjunction with improved reporting mechanisms, impunity must also be addressed. The UN must either create the systemic change required for TPCCs and individual perpetrators to be held accountable or take responsibility for SEA perpetrated by its peacekeeping personnel, including by providing redress to affected women/girls. With regard to criminal accountability, TPCCs are often reluctant to prosecute because of a number of systemic barriers, including a lack of provisions on extraterritorial jurisdiction in their domestic law, difficulty meeting evidentiary requirements for crimes committed in another jurisdiction, and political and cultural reasons. 68 Indeed, the UN's 2021 OIOS report states that criminal accountability for SEA crimes of UN personnel remained 'largely unachieved'. 69 In response, scholars and human rights organisations have called for the UN to enhance informationsharing and follow-up with TPCCs, to monitor TPCC investigations and facilitate prosecution in the TPCC. 70 In addition, alternatives to prosecution by TPCCs have been proposed, including on-site courts martial, 71 the establishment of an international criminal tribunal dedicated to prosecuting SEA-associated crimes or an international court mandated to adjudicate international organisations' actions, 72 and prosecution at the International Criminal Court. 73 With regard to civil responsibility, the UN has failed to facilitate claims of paternity and child support and provide adequate and transparent material assistance to victims, 74 despite its obligation to do so under its Comprehensive Strategy on Assistance and Support to Victims of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by United Nations Staff and Related Personnel. 75 The UN has 'been weak on implementing its own policy to facilitate paternity claims', and 'child support payments have rarely followed' proven claims. 76 Ensuring accountability, both criminal and civil, would demonstrate to host community members that the UN is really willing to engage in a survivor-centred approach.

Limitations and strengths
The current research must be considered with a number of limitations in mind. First, we used a convenience sample which is not representative of MINUSTAH-hosting communities in Haiti, particularly since women were underrepresented. Despite significant efforts to recruit more women/girls, the final sample remained two thirds male. There are several possible reasons for the reluctance of women/girls to participate. These include women being too busy (e.g. due to childcare, domestic responsibilities) or women spending less time in public spaces from where participants were recruited. An alternate explanation suggested in follow up focus group discussions with community members was that women were unwilling or uncomfortable sharing personal traumatic, stigmatising or disturbing experiences. Given this, the results may be more representative of male community members' perspective, and we recommend future research with the female host community members to thoroughly explore the first-hand experiences of security, authority and justice.
As a second limitation, the narratives purposely chosen for analysis all included some dialogue about SEA and therefore we cannot comment on how MINUSTAH would have been positively or negatively viewed outside of this subgroup of participants who chose to share a narrative about peacekeeper-perpetrated SEA. In addition, this study was conducted in 2017, and thus does not capture changing perceptions related to the UN's evolving policies and its increasing focus on victim-centred approaches to SEA. Third, we cannot confirm the veracity of any of the claims around peacekeeper-perpetrated SEA since our research was intended only to identify host community perceptions. Fourth, since the narratives were collected in Kreyòl it is possible that nuances were lost in the translation although this risk was mitigated by having the transcripts translated by native Kreyòl speakers. Finally, we recognise our positionality and are aware that the findings were interpreted with our own inherent biases as primarily non-Haitian academics. However, the findings were discussed with local partners in order to limit interpretation bias.
The study also has a number of notable strengths. Because we used an open-ended narrative capture tool (e.g. SenseMaker), participants' experiences with MINUSTAH tended to flow more naturally which facilitated contextualising of those experiences within the participants' lives more broadly. Furthermore, the results are derived from a relatively large qualitative sample of 381 participants. Although the sample is not representative, it intentionally included 10 different locations (both rural and urban), males and females, as well as participants of different socioeconomic statuses and ages in an effort to provide a diverse array of perspectives regarding peacekeeping in Haiti.

Conclusions
Participants identified complex reactions to hosting MINUSTAH: the positives were recognised (improved security, increased infrastructure, economic benefits and so on) but among many, there was a sense of acceptance that peacekeeper-perpetrated SEA was to be endured in order to take advantage of those benefits. Local community members were frustrated about the lack of mechanisms for recourse despite having strong feelings that the Haitian authorities, the UN and the implicated peacekeepers should be held accountable. At the time data was collected in 2017, Haitian community members first and foremost believed that the UN should leave Haiti, allowing Haitian authorities to be responsible for security and infrastructure. This suggests that UN peacekeeperperpetrated SEA has significantly undermined public opinion of MINUSTAH, despite the PSO's successes in achieving some degree of stability in Haiti. There were also many calls for reparations, and participants noted that some UN personnel had played a role in preventing SEA in their communities, suggesting that 'where there's a will, there's a way.' From this analysis, we recommend that the UN engage with Haitian community members in a meaningful and transparent way, allowing their voices and perspectives to guide reparations for SEA and child support for peacekeeper-fathered children. The UN must also adapt its approach to be victim/survivor-centred and transparent in addition to addressing the environment of impunity. Finally, it is also important that the Haitian authorities play a more active role in collaborating with civil society organisations to address issues around reporting SEA within the community, help to hold the UN and member states accountable and improve transparency around its handling of MINUSTAH-related wrongdoings. would also like to say a special thank you to each of 12 interviewers who travelled around Haiti to conduct the interviews. We are also grateful to Laurie Webster (QED Insight) for her support during the SenseMaker data collection.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).  Stéphanie Etienne is gender-based violence (GBV) Specialist/Trainer. She has led and collaborated on several GBV prevention projects with national and international actors as well as the Haitian government. As part of her experiences, she has also worked closely with civil society organisations, in particular women's and feminist organisations leading actions to fight GBV at the national level, contributing to the development of synergy and better coordination of actions. A social entrepreneur, she works for the capacity building of women and girls, the promotion of female leadership and financial empowerment. Sabine Lee is a historian with expertise in the field of historical and anthropological research around consequences of war and conflict. She has published on the social consequences of war and children conceived as a result of sexual and gender-based violence. She is a Professor of Modern History at the University of Birmingham and has led a funded international, interdisciplinary research network on children born of war and currently co-ordinates a European Commission Horizon 2020 funded Innovative Doctoral Training Network consisting of 15 interdisciplinary doctoral projects in Europe.

Susan A. Bartels is a Clinician Scientist and Associate Professor in the Departments of Emergency
Medicine and Public Health Sciences at Queen's University. In addition to practicing emergency medicine, she conducts global public health research focused on how women and children are impacted by humanitarian crises. While much of her work has been in Sub-Saharan Africa, she has also worked in the Middle East as well as in Asia and Haiti. Dr Bartels is interested in using innovative methods to improve understanding of health-related topics in complex environments such as armed conflict and natural disasters.

Question
Possible Responses Micro-narrative prompts Describe the best or worst experience of a particular woman or girl in your community who has interacted with foreign UN or MINUSTAH personnel. What happened?

Micro-narrative recorded by participant
Describe how living in a community with a UN or MINUSTAH presence has provided either a particular opportunity or a danger to a particular woman or girl in the community. What happened?
Micro-narrative recorded by participant Describe the negative or positive experience of a particular women or girl who requested support or assistance after interacting with foreign UN or MINUSTAH personnel. What happened?
Micro-narrative recorded by participant

Dyads
The interaction and relations you shared in the story were . . . 1) Entirely initiated by the foreign UN or MINUSTAH personnel; 2) entirely initiated by the woman / girl or some combination thereof In the story you shared, who had power and control? 1) Foreign UN or MINUSTAH personnel; 2) Woman / girl or some combination thereof In relation to the woman or the girl in the story you shared, those in power . . . 1) Did absolutely nothing to assist or support her; 2) Provided her with too much assistance and support or some combination thereof Events in the story led the community to have an . . . 1) Overwhelming desire to engage with the UN or MINUSTAH; 2) Absolute rejection of the UN or MINUSTAH or some combination thereof

Triads
This story is about . . . 1) Financial/material security; 2) Social status; 3) Emotional needs or some combination thereof In this story, the foreign UN or MINUSTAH personnel was . . . 1) In a position of authority; 2) Able to offer protection; 3) Wealthy and able to provide support or some combination thereof Was the interaction in the story 1) Friendly; 2) Business; 3) Relationship or some combination thereof In the story, what would a fair response look like? 1) Acceptance of responsibility; 2) Justice; 3) Reparation or some combination thereof In the story, it would have helped the woman or girl most to have had support from . . .

1) The UN or MINUSTAH
2) NGOs or civil society organisations 3) Haitian authorities or some combination thereof In the story, barriers to the woman or girl getting a fair response were . . .