"Women are no longer afraid to talk about an issue that has been swept under the carpet, not just in Hollywood, but also in the corporate world, including tech companies in Silicon Valley, where women have recently come out and spoken about sexual harassment at their places of work...However, the United Nations is one place where such complaints rarely get a hearing, and where the perpetrators are likely to get away scot-free.
This is because the UN is not only imbued with a culture of silence and hypermasculinity, but because staff members enjoy immunity from prosecution.
In 2004, for example, when a UN staff member in Geneva accused Ruud Lubbers, the then-UN High Commissioner for Refugees, of sexual harassment, her allegations were underplayed by the then-Secretary-General Kofi Annan, even though investigators had found a consistent pattern of sexual harassment by Lubbers... In essence, UN staff members who are sexually harassed or discriminated against are on their own.
There have been a few cases where staff members have been disciplined or fired for sexual misconduct, but the UN's lengthy appeal processes and highly ineffective internal justice and oversight mechanisms often work against the victims...
When I worked at the UN headquarters in Nairobi, I often heard stories of women being sexually harassed by their bosses or colleagues, but few of the victims bothered reporting these cases because they feared further victimisation.
In an environment where the person accused of harassment can make or break your career, there is a temptation not to report these cases for fear of retaliation or dismissal.
The UN is also likely to cover up such cases because of the fear that if they are made public, or if the UN admits to them, the organisation's reputation will be tarnished.
However, sexual harassment is only one part of a wide spectrum of sexual abuse perpetrated by UN personnel. An investigation by the Associated Press early this year revealed 2,000 allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation, including the rape of children, by UN peacekeepers in troubled parts of the world.
The UN this year also admitted that last year alone, there had been 145 incidents of sexual abuse involving UN personnel...
Despite the UN's stated 'zero tolerance' for sexual abuse, such cases continue unabated. And because UN employees enjoy immunity from prosecution, most of the victims will probably never obtain justice."