{"id":4694,"date":"2018-07-24T14:37:09","date_gmt":"2018-07-24T14:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chief-exec.com\/?p=4694"},"modified":"2018-10-30T09:52:30","modified_gmt":"2018-10-30T09:52:30","slug":"where-charity-stops-and-exploitation-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chief-exec.com\/?p=4694","title":{"rendered":"Where charity stops and exploitation begins"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aid agencies and NGOs working in some of the most challenging social environments are having to face the problem of child grooming among their own ranks, reports James Fitzgerald<\/em>.<\/span><\/h4>\n

Being charitable is one of those universal virtues that go along with justice, courage, faith and wisdom. Who hasn\u2019t filled out a charity sponsorship form or reached into their pocket when passing a coin box? But how many people stop to ask where their money is going and if it is being administered wisely and justly?<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a girl who sleeps in the street, and there were a group of people who decided to make money off of her. They took her to a man who works for an NGO. He gave her one American dollar and the little girl was happy to see the money. It was two in the morning. The man took her and raped her. In the morning the little girl could not walk,\u201d reported a young boy from Haiti to the Save the Children report, \u201cNo One To Turn To\u201d, in 2008.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese children are often alone; they are separated from their families; they are living in extreme poverty, and without the protection and support from parents many are using transactional sex just to survive,\u201d Corinna Csaky, an international child development consultant and author of the report, told the UK parliament\u2019s International Development Committee<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n

These children she says, are usually outside the system – they are not registered at birth, or for schools or other basic services. \u201cIt is these children we are expecting to come forward to report a case of abuse,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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‘Many victim survivors and their communities regard this abuse as an inevitable fact of life.’<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cIt is also very important to note the abusers are both foreign and national staff. Some come from overseas but many more are locals employed by international humanitarian organisations.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the exception of peacekeeping forces, local people make up the majority of humanitarian staff – and not surprisingly they make up the highest proportion of abusers, says the report, which also claims that most cases of abuse are not reported.<\/p>\n

Aid agency safeguarding mechanisms are mainly responsive; triggered when a member of the community reports the abuse. So, why are these people not speaking out?<\/p>\n

\u201cMany victim survivors and their communities regard this abuse as an inevitable fact of life,\u201d says Ms Csaky. \u201cThey do not see the need to report it. These are contexts ravaged by conflict and disaster, where the social fabric is threadbare. Where children, especially girls, are regarded to be worth less. And where exploitation and abuse have become normalised.\u201d<\/p>\n

She quotes a fourteen-year-old boy from Cote D\u2019Ivoire as saying: \u201cWe all work at the peacekeeping camp. We go there to earn money to help support our families. Sometimes they ask us to find girls, especially our age. Often it will be between eight and 10 men who will share two or three girls. They also use their mobile phones to film the girls. I find them girls in the town. They are often keen because of the gifts that are promised, such as mobile phones and food rations\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Survivors also described how speaking out carries several risks: foremost, they risk losing the food and money they earn through transactional sex with aid agency staff; and children and communities are scared of retaliation; and fearful of the stigma associated with this abuse.<\/p>\n

In South Sudan, some girls fear speaking out because they may be forced to marry their abuser, says Ms Csaky.<\/p>\n

The lack of support, it seems, is both a problem in and of itself and a factor discouraging people coming forward.<\/p>\n

Very few people in Haiti, Cote D\u2019Ivoire and South Sudan have ever heard of a victim receiving medical, legal, psycho-social or financial support, according to the report. It quotes a Haitian girl: \u201cThe people in the office and people who are raping us are the same people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Few people had any knowledge of how to report incidents or say how it would be taken forward in an official capacity.<\/p>\n

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‘This industry provides easy, anonymous access to victims, where nobody says anything.’<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The No One To Turn To report sets out a landscape of impunity for abusers. \u201cThey don\u2019t even hide what they are doing. If a case is reported, the fact that nothing happens can put people off coming forward,\u201d says one anonymous source.<\/p>\n

\u201cChildren and their communities must value their own rights and protection in order to speak out when they are violated,\u201d says Ms Csaky. \u201cThey must have confidence that speaking out will bring about a positive change. Children must receive feedback about what action is being taken against the perpetrators in order to build their confidence in the system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, she says, the child reporting mechanisms must be child friendly and effective for all children \u2014 especially those who are living on the edge of society.<\/p>\n

In the words of a mother in South Sudan: \u201cAn orphan can say nothing against her abuser because she has nothing\u201d.<\/p>\n

Pauline Latham, MP for Mid Derbyshire, sitting on the International Development Committee, suggested that people with paedophile tendencies were being attracted to aid work, as they are pushed out of the church and school systems. \u201cThis industry provides easy, anonymous access to victims, where nobody says anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

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On Tuesday 31 July, we will publish our new Report on Sexual #exploitation<\/a> and abuse in the aid sector. Read here for details: https:\/\/t.co\/IyZONwTgfx<\/a> #globaldev<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 International Development Committee (@CommonsIDC) July 24, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n