Red Cross reveals 21 of its staff members paid for sex
The International Committee of the Red Cross has revealed that 21 of its workers have either been sacked or resigned for sexual misconduct, adding to a wave of allegations against humanitarian organisations in the past month.
On Friday, Red Cross director general Yves Daccord called the behaviour “a betrayal”.
In a message on Twitter, Mr Daccord said: “I have instructed my teams to scour the data we do have on sexual misconduct, and I can tell you that since 2015 we’ve identified 21 staff members who were either dismissed for paying for sexual services or resigned during an internal inquiry.
“Another two staff members suspected of sexual misconduct did not have their contracts renewed. This behaviour is a betrayal of the people and the communities we are there to serve. It is against human dignity, and we should have been more vigilant in preventing this.”
It also said that any future “complaints and allegations will be acted upon firmly and consistently. Any employee found to have violated the code of conduct will be held accountable”.
The Red Cross, founded in 1863, is one of the oldest charities in the world and employs more than 17,000 staff worldwide.
Also drawn into the wave of allegations was British charity Plan International, which campaigns for children’s rights and equality for girls. In a blog post yesterday, UK chief executive Tanya Barron acknowledged six cases of sexual abuse and exploitation of minors within the organisation between July 2016 and June 2017.
“The painful but important truth to acknowledge is that sometimes things can go wrong,” Ms Barron said. “When they do, we are deeply sorry.”
She said that none of the incidents involved British staff or citizens.
ICRC and Plan International are the latest organisations to be drawn into a wave of sexual misconduct allegations regarding their employees, alongside Oxfam, Save the Children and Medecins Sans Frontieres.
This month, The Times revealed that Oxfam’s premises in Haiti had played host to prostitution, sometimes involving minors. The charity was accused of covering up the incidents and has since been barred from working in Haiti.
In the House of Commons this week, UK Minister for International Development Penny Mordaunt said the organisation had put its reputation ahead of its beneficiaries.
“I believe that their motivation appears to be the protection of the organisation’s reputation. They put that before those they were there to help and protect, which is a complete betrayal of trust, a betrayal of those who sent them there – the British people – and a betrayal of all those Oxfam staff and volunteers who put the people they serve first.”