Official: 31 Sexual Abuse Cases Against U.N. Personnel Filed in 3 Months

"Thirty-one new cases alleging sexual abuse or exploitation by United Nations personnel, nearly half of which involve the UN refugee agency, were filed between July and September for events stretching back at least three years, the UN said on Friday...

Of the 31 cases, 12 involve military personnel from peacekeeping operations including those in the Central African Republic and Mali.

The majority of the civilian staff cases, 15, involve the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Three cases involve the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and one the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)...

For decades, media and UN reports have exposed sexual exploitation and abuse by civilian and military UN personnel in places from Haiti to Darfur, with operations in the Central African Republic most recently in the headlines..."