MPs describe foreign aid jobs ‘magnet for sexual predators’ to exploit the world’s most vulnerable people
International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said urgent action was needed from the sector ahead of an international summit in October
FOREIGN aid jobs are a magnet for sexual predators to exploit the most vulnerable people in the world, a scathing report by MPs finds today.
The International Development Committee said delivering aid to the most needy is an “attractive sector for people wishing to exploit others” in a damning analysis of the sector.
MPs said charity aid bosses have “collectively failed” to tackle “the horror of sexual exploitation and abuse” over many years. Their report found sexual abuse was widespread across organisations, institutions and countries and aid bosses were “self-deluded” about tackling the problem.
And it hit out at a “macho” and “boys club” attitudes to women which resulted in a workplace where sexual assault was seen as “permissible by perpetrators and their supporters”.
The initial report from MPs on the issue following an expose of the abuse of aid victims in Haiti found “sexual predators” were using resources and power to “exploit and abuse some of the most vulnerable people in the world”.
Committee chair Stephen Twigg blasted the “culture of denial” from charities like Oxfam and the UN with “limited action” taken in the past when claims were made.
He raged: “Six months after The Times’ expose of abuse in Haiti, the Committee publishes a first look at the troubling issue of sexual exploitation and abuse in the aid sector.
“Many things have changed in that time with the aid sector, Charity Commission and DFID taking steps to respond to the crisis.
“One thing has not: the abject failure of the international aid sector to get to grips with this issue, leaving victims at the mercy of those who seek to use power to abuse others. No matter how insurmountable this looks, solutions must be found. This horror must be confronted.”
Last night International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said urgent action was needed from the sector ahead of an international summit in October.
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She said: “Until the sector is fully prepared to address the power imbalance, cultures, and behaviours that allow sexual abuse, exploitation and harassment to happen, we will never stamp it out.
“Ensuring that survivors’ voices are heard and taken seriously is paramount.”
MPs are calling for a global register for aid workers to help screen outknown sexual predators.
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