At the end of that year, they met with the women, who said ‘At least she did what she said she would do’. I had some very good colleagues in the country concerned who raised about $40,000, so those children could go to school.
I said to them, ‘Look, I’m not a very powerful person, but I will do what I can’. You come you talk to us, you go, we never hear anything’. One of them said, ‘People like you, we see you all the time. I remember one country I visited some years ago where there are a lot of women with children born of sexual exploitation and or abuse, and they were very dissatisfied, had received no support, no assistance the children were not going to school because they didn’t have money to pay for fees, and they didn’t know what was happening with the paternity claims. I will meet with anybody who wants to talk about this issue. Jane Connors: These are extremely difficult conversations. UN News: Are there common messages that you’re hearing from the victims? UN Assistant Secretary-General Jane Connors concluded her five-day visit to South Sudan with a press conference in Juba, the capital, on 7 December 2017. Giving victims information and follow up is not very good, and really has to improve. They need to know that delay is very bad, that they need to be polite and compassionate, and they need to keep the victim informed. Jane Connors: More work needs to be done with investigators coming out of a law enforcement background. UN News: Are investigations being carried out fast enough?
Remember when driving when drunk was fine, and now it is regarded as deeply unacceptable. It takes a lot of work, sustained resources, and huge leadership to make something unacceptable. I’d like to see much more focus on behaviour change. When we’re talking about abuse, by and large, we are talking about very serious sexual misconduct with children under age 18. They victimize not only the individual, but also their community and their own family. You need to have the victim element to make people think about the consequences of their conduct. We need to do much more with prevention, as prevention and response are inextricably linked you can’t have one without the other. Currently, we have projects in DR Congo and Liberia, we’ve had one in Haiti, and soon will be in the Central African Republic. Jane Connors: I think it does make a difference. UN News: Can projects supported by the UN Victims’ Assistance Fund make a real difference in the lives of victims? Superintendent Gnima Diedhiou from Senegal discussed interview techniques with fellow student Lieutenant Colonel Ade San Arief from Indonesia during the UN National Investigation Officer Training of Trainers Course at RAAF Williams Laverton, Melbourne. Accountability from a victim’s perspective will be very different to what others might think. Realizing accountability to victims should be our priority. Just because you are able to use your power to exploit somebody and get them to apparently consent doesn’t mean they consent. One of the big challenges is underrating the impact of sexual exploitation and the notion that there is consent. More reports have come forward, and more has been done in supporting victims and, in particular, pursuing paternity child support claims. Sexual exploitation or abuse often results in a pregnancy, and the men almost always abandon the women because they have another family elsewhere. We’ve had very good progress where we have victims’ rights advocates on the ground, in Central African Republic, DR Congo, Haiti, and South Sudan. The challenge is to get that translated into reality on the ground. Jane Connors: There has been good progress in getting people to understand from a policy point of view that the victim and their rights and dignity are extremely important. UN News: How would you assess progress made to date? Jane Connors of Australia is the first Victims’ Rights Advocate for the United Nations.
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