Former aid minister says she won’t give to Oxfam anymore as criminal charges loom against charity over sexual allegations
Priti Patel said after what she knows, she won't be donating to the charity again
BRITS were urged to stop donating money to scandal-hit Oxfam yesterday - as former foreign aid chief Priti Patel revealed she is boycotting the charity.
Asked whether she’d advise people to pull the plug on Oxfam following the shocking sex assault allegations against its staff, she told LBC that giving money to charity was a “matter of personal choice”.
But the former International Development Secretary added: “I have to say candidly to your listeners, I would not give money to Oxfam in light of what I know.”
The stinging rebuke came as it emerged for the first time that a criminal investigation could be launched into the Oxfam allegations.
It also emerged last night that Oxfam's own staff training guide on Sexual exploitation states that workers shouldn't be banned from paying for prostitutes in third world countries.
Remarkably it says a ban would "infringe on people’s civil liberties”.
It accepts that staff will pay for sex workers - even though the guide describes prostitution as "exploitative".
International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt vowed that sex abusers operating in the charity sector would be brought to justice “no matter where they are”.
She has summoned the National Crime Agency to look at how sex abuse criminals operating in the international charity sector can be hauled in front of UK courts.
In a sign of the seriousness of the abuse allegations against Oxfam, she will meet the director general of the organised crime agency today to probe how it can better implement laws on sexual exploitation and abuse in the sector.
The crunch meeting - which will also include officials from the Home Office - comes after days of crisis meetings with charity bosses and regulators.
Speaking at a child protection summit in Stockholm, Ms Mordaunt doubled down on her threat to withdraw the Government’s £32million a year funding to Oxfam. She said the allegations against the charity must act as a “wake-up call” to the aid sector.
The International Development Secretary warned: “No organisation is too big, or our work with them too complex, for me to hesitate to remove funding from them if we cannot trust them to put the beneficiaries of aid first.”
And ahead of her meeting with the NCA tomorrow, she said: “While investigations have to be completed and any potential criminals prosecuted accordingly, what is clear is that the culture that allowed this to happen needs to change and it needs to change now.”
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The NCA said it had “closely monitored” the Oxfam allegations and said it was considering a “range of powers” at its disposable to investigate sexual offences committed outside the UK.
The NCA said it issued nearly 10,800 International Child Protection Certificates last year, which protect children from UK nationals who seek to work overseas in order to abuse children.
An NCA spokesman said: “We look forward to discussion with colleagues in DFID and the Home Office and will consider how the NCA can assist with international safeguarding considerations in light of our global reach and will present our professional view on what more could or should be done.
They added: “We also have a memorandum of understanding with the Charity Commission and are meeting with them this week to assure ourselves that appropriate action has been taken with all the safeguarding material in their possession.”