Sex for aid: UK tells predators ‘enough is enough’

LONDON:After

several NGOs and aid agencies were caught in sexfor-aid or sex-for-food scandals in recent years, the Theresa May government used an international summit on Thursday to tell sexual predators: “Your time is up.”

International development secretary Penny Mordaunt called on the global aid community at the International Safeguarding Summit to take action, saying “enough is enough”, in context of rows about sexual predators abusing most vulnerable people around the world.

She announced a new Interpol project, named Operation Soteria after the Greek goddess of safety, that will deploy teams of specialists to two hubs in Africa and Asia to strengthen criminal record checks and information-sharing to help ensure a more robust law enforcement response against individuals.

Mordaunt said: “This is a pivotal moment. The entire international aid community is in one place, as it looks to change for the better the way the aid sector works. Our message to sexual predators using the sector as a cover for their crimes is ‘Your time is up.’ The Interpol project with DFID seeks to help stop sexual predators from being able to move between aid organisations without being caught.