When it comes to child sex abuse in aid work, the Oxfam revelations are just the tip of the iceberg
Andrew M. MacLeod
As disgusting as it might seem, as authorities crack down on paedophilia in the developed world, predatory paedophiles are now going to the developing world to gain access to children. One of their preferred methods is to join a children’s charity.
Independent Voices
Shocking revelations on BBC’s Newsnight on Friday 9 February saw former Oxfam head Dame Barbara Stocking admit that she “knew for years” after an internal Oxfam investigation that sexual exploitative behaviour has been going on at Oxfam. The behaviour included hiring prostitutes in earthquake-torn Haiti – who may have been underage – and downloading illegal material. It was revealed that the aid workers involved in such acts moved from aid job to aid job with spotless references.
Worse, Oxfam only reported accusations to its board, but not to prosecutors.
However, such behaviour is the tip of the iceberg.
There is a growing realisation that the worst of crimes – child abuse and child rape – make up a component of detailed and long-standing sex abuse accusations against UN and NGO aid workers, and peacekeeping soldiers. If you doubt this, have a look for yourself – I wrote about the lack of action but six months ago.
Oxfam is far from alone with sexual harassment, rape and child rape accusations. The problem is becoming more well known in the entire aid industry. The UK’s former National Criminal Intelligence Service, which registered and monitored the activities of paedophiles, warned as far back as 1999 that the scale of the problem of paedophiles in the aid world is on a level with sex tourism.
As disgusting as it might seem, as authorities crack down on paedophilia in the developed world, predatory paedophiles are now going to the developing world to gain access to children. According to authorities’ warnings, one of the paedophiles’ chosen methodologies to gain access to children is to join a children’s charity.
Shocking, but once you think about it, horribly easy to believe.
Surely then, child-related charities working overseas must have a higher than normal obligation to prevent, detect and prosecute predatory paedophiles who join their networks?
Kofi Anan and Ban Ki Moon, two former UN secretaries general, both list their failure to crack down on paedophilia as one of their professional regrets. The UN’s Field Support website lists ongoing accusations of sex abuse and ongoing accusations of child rape. The problem is not just a past problem – it is a present and future scourge that will threaten the entire aid industry if we don’t fix it.
This topic is difficult reading for many people. I understand people would rather shy away from the issue of child rape. Just in typing the words for this article I feel uncomfortable. One of the reasons that the Catholic Church avoided responsibility for so long is that it was too difficult for people, especially Catholics, to accept that their institution was responsible for covering up heinous acts.
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