Despite internal regulations, policy documents, statements, training, reporting mechanisms and international treaties accountability is perceived as inadequate when it comes to peacekeepers and sexual exploitation and abuse. This study will be based on a normative oriented jurisprudence and will use general international principles for reviewing the flaws. There are relatively robust regulations on how peacekeepers are expected to meet their standards of conduct but there simultaneously exists a legal vacuum when it comes to accountability. This study will to try to create an overlap in hope to further implement existing policy document.

Cambodia is a destination, transit, and source country for child sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) and has become particularly vulnerable due to growing tourism, increasing geographic accessibility, and widespread poverty. In the aftermath of SEA, repeated violations of children's rights and deprivation of their childhood occur. This Minor Field Study was conducted on-site in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to examine the main factors that affect the general perception of child victims exposed to SEA, in the opinion of Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE) professionals. In addition, it highlights the main issue, raised by APLE staff, regarding the absence of legitimate status of victims of SEA in Cambodia. Finally, it assesses the ideal victim theory’s explanatory power when applied to child SEA victimisation in Cambodia. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with APLE employees, followed by a thematic analysis. Four main themes were identified: cultural aspects, lack of education, absence of intervention, and offender characteristics. The findings of this study suggest that the assignment of legitimate victim status is highly influenced by cultural aspects and lack of education. This study further identifies the absence of intervention as the key issue of not being assigned legitimate victim status. Finally, the findings suggest that the ideal victim theory overall offers great explanatory value to the absence of legitimate status of child victims of SEA in Cambodia. However, some theoretical limitations are evident. / Kambodja är ett destinations-, transit- och ursprungsland för sexuellt utnyttjande och övergrepp (SEA) av barn. Till följd av växande turism, ökad geografisk tillgänglighet och utbredd fattigdom har barnen i landet blivit särskilt sårbara för SEA. Utsattheten medför upprepade kränkningar av barns rättigheter och berövar dem på deras barndom. Den förevarande mindre fältstudien genomfördes på plats i Phnom Penh, Kambodja. Studien syftar dels till att undersöka vilka huvudsakliga faktorer som påverkar samhällets uppfattningar om barn som utsatts för SEA, enligt anställda på organisationen Actions Pour Les Enfants (APLE). Dessutom ämnar studien, baserat på APLE-anställdas upplevelser, undersöka vilka problem som uppstår till följd av en avsaknad legitim offerroll. Slutligen avser studien att undersöka förklaringsvärdet av den ideala offer-teorin då den appliceras på fenomenet SEA av barn i Kambodja. Åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med anställda vid organisationen APLE. Därefter tillämpades en tematisk analys på det insamlade materialet. Fyra huvudteman identifierades: kulturella aspekter, avsaknad utbildning, utebliven intervention och förövares egenskaper. Resultaten av studien tyder på att tilldelningen av den legitima offerrollen i hög grad påverkas av kulturella aspekter och en avsaknad utbildning. Studien fann vidare att utebliven intervention är det främsta problemet som uppstår till följd av en avsaknad legitim offerroll. Slutligen antyder studiens resultat att teorin om ideala offer innehar ett stort förklaringsvärde vid applicering på offer av SEA i Kambodja. Dock framkom vissa teoretiska begränsningar.

The thesis provides legal analysis of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeepers with particular focus on military members of national peacekeeping contingents. It provides brief survey of peacekeeping operations thereby underlying their importance in the contemporary activities of the UN and describing factors that have caused or might led to sexual exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeepers. Furthermore, UN action towards those acts is described and it is also evaluated whether such steps are successful, sufficient and whether more could have been done or what more can be done in the future. A part is also dedicated to international humanitarian law perspective and international human rights law. In this context, the author tries to answer the question if and when the sexual exploitation and abuse by members of national peacekeeping contingents while deployed to a UN peacekeeping mission may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity and whether there is a role to play by International Criminal Court. In the same vein, issues of extraterritorial application of human rights treaties are discussed. The question of international responsibility is the central topic of this thesis. Apart from individual responsibility of members of national peacekeeping contingents for acts of sexual...