A cross-sectional study of community perceptions of stigmatization amongst women affected by UN-peacekeeper perpetrated sexual exploitation and abuse

Samantha Gray; Susan A Bartels; Sabine Lee; Heather Stuart

doi:10.1186/s12889-021-12221-6

A cross-sectional study of community perceptions of stigmatization amongst women affected by UN-peacekeeper perpetrated sexual exploitation and abuse

BMC Public Health. 2021 Dec 18;21(1):2295. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-12221-6.

Authors

Samantha Gray¹, Susan A Bartels^{2

3}, Sabine Lee⁴, Heather Stuart²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada. salexgray@gmail.com.
² Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
³ Department of Emergency Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada.
⁴ Department of History, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, England.

Abstract

Background: Sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) by UN peacekeepers perpetrated against local women and girls is a concern in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). While stigma associated with sexual and gender-based violence is well documented more broadly, little is known about stigma associated with peacekeeper-perpetrated SEA.

Methods: The aim of this study was to examine how the degree of exposure to SEA affects community perceptions of a woman or girl's (1) social status (public stigma) and (2) institutional support in her community (structural stigma). Two poisson regression models with robust variance estimation were constructed utilizing community survey data of SEA experiences from eastern DRC (n = 2867) to quantify these associations. Relevant demographic variables were assessed for confounding and effect modification.

Results: The prevalence of public and structural stigma were 62.9 and 19.3% respectively across the sample. A positive relationship was demonstrated between level of exposure of SEA and diminished social status in which women and girls experiencing moderate levels of SEA were at the greatest risk of public stigmatization after adjusting for confounding (RR: 1.94; CI: 1.66-2.26). Similarly, a positive relationship between exposure to SEA and inadequate institutional support was shown for female narrators wherein women and girls experiencing a high degree of SEA were 6.53 times as likely to receive inadequate support (RR: 6.53; CI: 3.63, 11.73). This contrasted with male narrated stories for whom there was no significant association between the SEA exposure level and institutional support.

Conclusions: Women/girls with high exposure levels to UN peacekeeper-perpetrated SEA are at the highest risk of public and structural stigmatization, which should be more routinely considered when conceptualizing the consequences of SEA in peacekeeping contexts. The frequent occurrence of both public and structural stigma, coupled with the varying perceptions by sex, demonstrates the need for a multi-faceted approach for stigma reduction.

Keywords: Democratic Republic of Congo; United Nations; peacekeepers; sexual abuse; sexual exploitation; stigma.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cross-Sectional Studies
Democratic Republic of the Congo / epidemiology
Female
Humans
Male
Sex Offenses*
Sexual Behavior
Stereotyping*
United Nations