Rise in sexual abuse cases in aid groups as more victims ...
▻http://news.trust.org/item/20190210235057-41rbw
Leading aid agencies received at least 539 reports of sex abuse and harassment last year, an exclusive survey showed on Monday, a 13 percent increase on 2017 which charities said shows abuse victims are more willing to speak up.
The reports have led to the sacking of 91 staff, with many other cases under investigation, according to the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s second annual survey of 22 leading global charities, including the United Nations (U.N.), Oxfam and CARE.
“If we sustain momentum on this issue and keep working to ensure people feel safe coming forward to report abuse, the numbers of reported incidents will inevitably go up in the short term,” said Mike Wright, of Bond, a network for UK aid groups.
“But as we reinforce the message that abusive behaviour will not be tolerated and continue to improve our safeguarding practices, in the long term they will fall,” he said.
The aid industry has come under scrutiny after revelations last year that Oxfam staff used prostitutes in Haiti during an earthquake relief mission in 2010 snowballed into widespread reports of harassment and abuse in the sector.