Charities reel from sex claims
BRITAIN: More than 120 workers for Britain’s leading charities were accused of sexual abuse in the past year alone, fuelling fears paedophiles are targeting overseas aid organisations.
Priti Patel, the UK former international development secretary, said ‘‘predatory paedophiles’’ had been allowed to exploit the aid sector and called for charities to be stripped of government funding unless they improve their response to sexual abuse and exploitation.
Figures collated by charities cover sexual harassment in Britain and abroad. Not all relate to paedophilia but they raise troubling questions about regulation within the charity sector. Oxfam reported 87 incidents last year, Save the Children 31 - 10 of which were referred to the police and civil authorities - and Christian Aid two. The British Red Cross admitted there had been a ‘‘small number of cases of harassment reported in the UK’’, believed to be up to five. All four receive money from the Department for International Development.
Of the Oxfam cases, 53 were referred to the police or other statutory authorities. A total of 20 staff or volunteers were dismissed. The charity employs 5000 staff and has 23,000 volunteers.
Incidents involving charity workers that have come to light since The Times revealed Oxfam workers in Haiti in 2011 were dismissed after using local prostitutes for sex parties, include: The Grail Trust, which raises funds for a disadvantaged children’s charity in India, was criticised by the Charities Commission in March last year for failing to report an allegation of child abuse in India and for initially publicly rejecting the claim. Teacher Simon Harris, who was head of a charity in Kenya, abused children at a school there. He was jailed for more than 17 years at Birmingham crown court in 2015.
Andrew MacLeod, a former aid worker for the Red Cross and the UN, told The Sunday Times there was a lack of response to ‘‘institutionalised paedophilia’’ among aid workers. He said he was shocked by what he saw in the Philippines.
‘‘All you needed to do was walk near the Greenbelt Mall [in Manila] at about 5.30pm and you would see businessmen, tourists and aid workers meeting local girls for the night. It was that blatant. Many aid workers will have to ask themselves: ‘What did I do to try and stop it?’’’
It is not clear from the figures for last year how many of the allegations were made by other staff members or whether the alleged victims were beneficiaries of the charities’ work.
Save the Children said all 31 abuse allegations took place abroad and 16 people had been dismissed as a result. A Christian Aid spokesman said: ‘‘In the past 12 months, Christian Aid has investigated two incidents of sexual misconduct, both of which occurred overseas. One investigation led to the dismissal of a staff member, while the other case resulted in disciplinary action [not dismissal].’’
It emerged yesterday that Oxfam did not give the Charity Commission full details about the use of prostitutes by some aid workers in Haiti seven years ago. The commission said: ‘‘We have written to the charity as a matter of urgency to request further information regarding the events in Haiti in 2011 to establish greater clarity. This information will be considered as part of an ongoing case regarding the charity’s approach to safeguarding.’’
William Shawcross, chairman of the commission, said: ‘‘Charities must always be held - and hold themselves - to the highest standards. When they fail to do so . . . the damage concerns us all.’’ -