Restorative responses to human rights violations by peacekeepers: Enhancing human security?

Human rights violations by peacekeepers present one of the most appalling kinds of offences on the international stage, because they represent a threat to the security of the very people whom the peacekeepers were sent to protect. As such, they present a serious human security issue for the United Nations (UN) and for peacekeeping efforts in general. The most extensive violations by peacekeepers involve acts of sexual violence and exploitation. In March 2009, the UN Security Council adopted a key resolution critical of violence against women, and also condemning the peacekeepers charged with rape and sexual abuse. However, the major question that remains has to do with what is to be done about it.