UN Secretary General António Guterres wants to tackle sexual assault within United Nations. “We will never accept sexual harassment, nowhere.” Every accusation is taken seriously, said Guterres. The leadership of World organisation, which is 193 member states, has “zero tolerance” on this issue.

if ( typeof AdController !== ‘undefined’ !window.Zeit.isMobileView()) { if ( !document.getElementById( ‘iqadtile8’ ) ) { var elem = document.createElement( ‘div’ ); elem.id = ‘iqadtile8’; elem.className = “ad ad-desktop ad-desktop–8 ad-desktop–8-on-article”; elem.setAttribute(‘data-banner-type’, ‘desktop’); elem.setAttribute(‘data-banner-label’, ‘Anzeige’); document.getElementById(‘ad-desktop-8’).parentNode.appendChild(elem); AdController.render(‘iqadtile8’); if ( window.console typeof window.console.info === ‘function’ ) { window.console.info(‘AdController ‘ AdController.VERSION ‘ tile 8 desktop’) } } } if ( typeof AdController !== ‘undefined’ window.Zeit.isMobileView()) { if ( !document.getElementById( ‘iqadtile3’ ) ) { var elem = document.createElement( ‘div’ ); elem.id = ‘iqadtile3’; elem.className = “ad ad-mobile ad-mobile–3 ad-mobile–3-on-article”; elem.setAttribute(‘data-banner-type’, ‘mobile’); document.getElementById(‘ad-mobile-3’).parentNode.appendChild(elem); AdController.render(‘iqadtile3’); if ( window.console typeof window.console.info === ‘function’ ) { window.console.info(‘AdController ‘ AdController.VERSION ‘ tile 3 mobile’) } } }

Victims of sexual violence and also those who give evidence of sexual assault should be better protected in future. Within UN Secretariat, a new telephone hotline will be set up this month in order to be able to provide confidential advice to potential victims. According to Guterres, UN peak is occupied for first time in equal parts by women and men – in approximately 50 UN leadership positions even more women than men worked today.

Numerous abuse accusations against blue helmet soldiers

The extent to which announcement affects approximately 44,000 UN employees worldwide is unclear. Two weeks ago, several UN employees had stated that y had been sexually abused. Some of m had told Guardian that y reported accusations internally. However, according to reports, re is a “culture of silence” and impunity in international organisation.

Since 2014, re have also been accusations against blue-helmet soldiers for sexual abuse, for example in Central African Republic. There, more than a hundred women and girls gave up being raped by foreign soldiers. The UN peacekeeping mission has been active in Central African Republic since 2014.