Traumatised Oxfam women told bosses: We were abused, too

WOMEN working for Oxfam in Malawi broke down in tears as they revealed how they had been sexually harassed.

The shocking scene came during a team-building conference, when two women spoke of their ordeal at the hands of managers.

They said their jobs as junior admin assistants made them feel powerless against sexual predators working for the charity.

The two-day retreat at Club Makokola on the shores of Lake Malawi was intended to give staff a chance to ‘relax, interact and reflect’. But when Oxfam’s 40 local staff were encouraged to speak openly at a group therapy session in which anyone could speak their mind, two of the women cried hysterically, according to several present.

‘These young women were sobbing as they poured their hearts out,’ a staff member said on condition of anonymity. ‘The women were saying they were being forced into sexual situations they intensely disliked but were terrified of losing their jobs.’

Patrick Nganzi, head of the conference team, urged everyone to ‘empty their hearts and even go so far as crying if it meant removing stress’.

The retreat was intended to air grievances and to be an opportunity for team-building, with exercises such as beach football and tug-of-war. ‘These were fun and we also had a boat cruise, but for most of us it was the memory of those women in distress which remains,’ said a source. ‘They just seemed so helpless.’

Others present at the therapy session in 2008 said it was intense and uncomfortable.

On Friday, the head of Oxfam International, Winnie Byanyima, said that the recent spate of serious sexual complaints against the charity were a ‘stain which will shame us for years’.

She said she could not guarantee there were no more sexual predators still working for Oxfam, following allegations that the head of the charity’s team in Haiti had paid underage prostitutes during the earthquake crisis in 2010.

Oxfam said: ‘We take allegations of sexual harassment very seriously and we are looking into this as a matter of urgency.’