UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations received 31 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse within its system in the third quarter of the year, 12 of them were from peacekeeping operations, a UN spokesman said Friday.
Not all of the allegations have been verified, and some are in the preliminary assessment phase, cautioned Stephane Dujarric, the chief UN spokesman.
Out of the 31 allegations, 12 are from peacekeeping operations and 19 from UN agencies, funds and programs. Ten are categorized as sexual abuse, 19 as sexual exploitation, and two are of an unknown nature, said Dujarric.
Twelve of these allegations occurred in 2017, two in 2016, six in 2015 or before, and the dates are unknown for 11 of them, he said.
Thirty-eight male alleged perpetrators have been associated with these incidents. Of the 36 victims, 72 percent are women and 19 percent are girls. Fourteen investigations have been launched during this timeframe, he said.
Dujarric said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was "disappointed and saddened" by the prevalence of sexual exploitation and abuse in the UN system.
The new quarterly update is a follow-up of Guterres' campaign for zero tolerance with sexual exploitation and abuse.
