Coming in July on FRONTLINE

Over the past 15 years, the United Nations (UN) has recorded more than 1,700 allegations of sexual abuse by its peacekeepers in conflict zones around the world — from Cambodia to Mozambique, and from Bosnia to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In UN Sex Abuse Scandal, a new documentary airing Tuesday, July 24 on PBS and online at pbs.org/frontline, FRONTLINE investigates why the problem of sexual abuse and exploitation by peacekeepers persists despite the UN’s efforts to stamp it out. It’s a stunning investigation: Correspondent Ramita Navai tracks down survivors who were as young as 11 when they say they were raped or sexually exploited by UN peacekeepers who were supposed to protect them. 

The UN documentary is one of two new, in-depth investigations coming to FRONTLINE this month. On Tuesday, July 31, in Separated: Children at the Border, producers Marcela Gaviria and Martin Smith tell the inside story of what happened to immigrant children separated from their parents at the border. Gaviria has been investigating the treatment of minors at the border for more than a year. With on-the-ground reporting in Central America and at the border, the film explores how the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy has played out — and how both presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama dealt with minors at the border. 

Also in July, FRONTLINE brings you encore presentations of two films that first aired this spring. On July 10, in Trump’s Takeover, FRONTLINE tells the story of how Trump took control of the Republican Party — from the perspective of Republican lawmakers and insiders themselves. And on July 17, in Blackout in Puerto Rico, FRONTLINE and NPR investigate both the federal response to Hurricane Maria, and the debt crisis that left the island in ruins long before the storm hit.

Here’s a closer look at FRONTLINE’s July lineup.

July 10: Trump’s Takeover

Trump’s Takeover examines how the president is remaking the GOP in his own image, counter-punching when criticized and publicly attacking those who defy him. Gripping and revealing, the documentary is a window into the potential lasting impact of the Trump era on the Republican Party and the American political system as a whole.

July 17: Blackout in Puerto Rico

FRONTLINE and NPR investigate the humanitarian and economic crisis in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, examining how the federal response, Wall Street and years of neglect have left the island struggling to survive.

July 24: UN Sex Abuse Scandal

This investigation into sex abuse by United Nations peacekeepers in the world’s conflict zones traces allegations from Congo to the Central African Republic, and explores why criminal accountability for peacekeepers who commit abuses remains so elusive. 

July 31: Separated: Children at the Border

What happened to immigrant children separated from their parents at the border? Marcela Gaviria and Martin Smith investigate the impact of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, and examine how both Trump and Obama dealt with minors at the border.

Check your local PBS station for airtimes.