Aid agencies accused of hiding scale of sexual assaults on employees
Aid agencies accused of hiding scale of sexual assaults on employees
Women come forward to tell of attacks by colleagues worldwide, and accuse NGOs large and small of failing to protect them.
?w=620&q=85&auto=format&sharp=10&s=7c0712f51284c1e208db84461d492308
Women carry maize flour sacks during a food distribution to refugees and displaced people in Juba, South Sudan’s capital.
Women working for international aid agencies are facing a hidden threat of sexual violence and harassment which their employers routinely ignore or sweep under the carpet, according to testimonies gathered by the Guardian. While exact statistics on the scale of sexual assault in the sector are hard to come by, many working for humanitarian groups worldwide say sexual predation is an unreported and growing evil that needs to be addressed by those at the top.
Women have told the Guardian that organisations – from major international non-governmental organisations and UN agencies to smaller charities – are failing to support and protect their workers from sexual abuse. Victims who speak out are often labelled troublemakers.
. . . . .
The Headington Institute in California, which provides psychological support for aid workers, has begun research to assess the scale of the problem. Alicia Jones, its assistant director, said: “This is massively underreported: no one has an accurate read on this at the moment. Most agencies are hearing about these events internally, but survivors are choosing not to report for a variety of reasons. “We think it’s likely that 1% or more (between 5,000-10,000 people) experience this during their humanitarian career. But male or female, this is an issue everyone fears, even if they are not naming it. It’s a worst-case scenario that everyone is thinking about.”
. . . .
Nobert said people were scared to report sexual assaults and abuse because of their fears of a backlash and a lack of support from within their organisations. “There’s been a real theme of organisations saying: ‘Suck it up. This is something you should expect, even if it’s a colleague doing it.’ “There have been CEOs, country directors, managers saying exactly that. The humanitarian sector is still a very macho world. The majority of country directors are still men. What we need is for a recognition that there is a problem that sexual violence occurs within the humanitarian community. That is the first step in breaking the stigma, being open that this is happening and we need to talk about it.”
. . . . .
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/19/aid-agencies-accused-of-hiding-scale-of-sexual-assaults-on-employees
