“If I was with my father such discrimination wouldn’t exist, I could be happy like other people”: a qualitative analysis of stigma among peacekeeper fathered children in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

Background The United Nations (UN) Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) comprises the largest and longest serving peacekeeping operation to date. Since the launch of the mission in 1999, sexual relations between UN peacekeepers and the local population regularly occur; some resulting in children being conceived. Reports have indicated that women and girls bearing children from such relations face difficult socio-economic realities. The present study is the first to explore the situation of peacekeeper fathered children (PKFC) through a qualitative analysis that includes interview material from mothers and child participants. Methods The article uses theories from stigma research to illustrate how children conceived through sexual relations with UN peacekeepers integrate into social networks. We conducted a case study of mothers and their PKFC at different sites of UN peacekeeping (UNPK) in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Based on 95 in-depth interviews held in 2018, a thematic qualitative analysis examined experiences of stigma and discrimination. In order to understand the challenges of mothers and children from a transgenerational perspective, we evaluated perceptions of rejection rooted in the mother-child relationship. Results Of the mothers and children surveyed, a large majority struggled with stigmatizing behaviour by family and/or community members. PKFC perceived their discrimination to be based upon their mixed ethnicity, fatherlessness, illegitimacy at birth, as well as a lack of resources and opportunity. Mothers most often attributed their stigma to economic deprivation, extra-marital sexual relations, single parenting and being associated with UNPK. Parallels in the experiences of mothers and children suggest a bi-directional transmission of status loss and stigma between generations. Conclusions This is the first empirical study to compare the situation of PKFC and their mothers in any country of UNPK deployment. The findings highlight multiple burdens that affect their daily lives and illustrate an interplay between drivers of stigmatization for mothers and children. The overarching needs identified are financial, and these call for action regarding policies and programmes that provide resources to those concerned. The results further demonstrate the need for psychosocial support that considers transgenerational dynamics and both mothers and children as core addressees of assistance.

UNsupported: The Needs and Rights of Children Fathered by UN Peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo

“…The study is derived from a wider mixed-methods research project addressing peacekeeper-civilian interactions in eastern DRC with data collected between May and August 2018. 11 In the larger study, the narrative-capture tool SenseMaker® was used to collect micronarratives from 2856 community members regarding interactions between UN peacekeepers and local women and girls (Wagner et al 2020). Women who shared first-person accounts about conceiving and giving birth to a PKFC were invited to participate in a follow-up qualitative interview.…”

“…The database does not track children born to peacekeepers of consensual sexual relations and no information regarding how many PKFC are receiving support and what that support looks like have been made public, indicating the UN's lack of transparency in reporting and analysing paternity. 11 For more information on the study design and larger research project see Wagner et al (2020).…”

“…They suffered from insufficient funds to buy basic ingredients like vegetables, rice, tea and oil. Mothers demonstrated their need for urgent remedies to feed their families, particularly the PKFC, who in some instances were denied access to available household resources (Wagner et al 2020).…”

“…Where sexual relations lead to pregnancy, peacekeepers are often redeployed elsewhere or repatriated from host state communities before their children are born (Blau 2016). 2 Since civilians are already fighting existential problems, children left behind by peacekeepers have been shown to substantially weaken the economic security of their families (Lee and Bartels 2019;Wagner et al 2020). The Special Advisor of the UN Secretary General (SG), Prince Zeid Raad Al-Hussein, acknowledged in 2005 that "many victims, especially those who have "peacekeeper babies" and have been abandoned by the fathers, are in desperate financial situation[s]" (UN General Assembly 2005, 25).…”

Born between war and peace: Situating peacekeeper-fathered children in research on children born of war

“…However, the life courses of PKFC are vastly under-studied and little is known regarding how their childhood and adolescence experiences compare to those described in the CBOW literature (Carpenter, 2007;Mochmann and Larsen, 2008;Mochmann and Lee, 2010). Despite recent advances in understanding their unique connection to postconflict communities (Vahedi et al, 2020;Wagner et al, 2020Wagner et al, , 2022a, to date, neither the UN, civil society organizations nor academia have investigated how PKFC are situated amongst those more traditionally recognized as CBOW (Lee and Glaesmer, 2021).…”