Oxfam alleged prostitution cover-up

The sexual abuse and cover-up is shocking enough. Added to that, the thing that has really shocked me is men on the left attacking media outlets covering this utter scandal. Apparently the BBC and the press are being their normal Tory selves while Oxfam hasn't actually done anything wrong (it was individuals) and needs to be supported because it spoke out against Davos and global capitalism.

At the moment, I'm seeing the left cheerfully taking the side against women, including abused women, in so many contexts.

Given that we know that those who liberated Nazi camps abused women in these ways, I'm not sure why anyone is shocked that it still continues.

However, it's always fabulous to see that someone felt it necessary to add a touch of "women do it tooooooo" into the mix, like that means that the fact that in it almost exclusively males who are doing this doesn't really matter.

I saw another article in the Times this morning attempting to justify the decision. It said that they were afraid of local staff on the ground being attacked if the information came out but they still kept him on for a month after that.

Then he was provided with positive references so he then went on to

^become head of mission for Action Against Hunger in Bangladesh in 2014-16. The French charity made pre-employment checks but said that Oxfam “did not share with us any warning regarding [his] unethical conduct, the reasons of his resignation or the results of internal inquiry”.

A spokesman said: “Moreover, we received positive references from former Oxfam staff who worked with him, among them a [former] HR person.”^

It's utterly damming isn't it? It makes a mockery of their protecting staff when they're just covering up so he can abuse others elsewhere.

I think charities are bound to attract people who predatory because they provide such a good cover Jimmy Savile for example.

Fuck off with your "women do it too". This is about male entitlement, not the fact that persons of any sex can be corrupt

Seconded. This, along with so many other recent news stories, has enraged me so much I never want to get involved in a relationship with another male, frankly.

You can say 'not all men' as much as you like, but I'm coming to the conclusion that most men have beliefs (whether overt or buried more deeply in their subconscious) that are fundamentally incompatible with the interests of women. Germaine Greer was spot on when she said that women don't realise just how much much hate them. I used to laugh at some of Andrea Dworkin's ideas for being too extreme - I'm not fucking laughing now.

It beggars belief that if men can abuse women and children they will. We don't want to accept that this is true in our society.

Yet this is clear evidence that it is indeed true and we need to WAKE UP!!

Yes even the "saviours" will prostitute women and children, because they want to and because they can.

I've known about this for some time now and I've never donated to Oxfam again. Feel ashamed about having donated in the past.

Share the thoughts of all of you, with the obvious exception.

Oxfam allowed staff to resign to avoid damaging the charity’s reputation

Funny that. Because I will never ever donate to them again. If they’d rooted it out and dragged these abusers over hot coals it’d have shown they still have a whiff of morality.

It’s endemic. Power, abuse, sexual violence. A significant proportion of the population have no moral restraint whatsoever. I despair for our species.

Anyfucker - in this context it IS worth looking at the wider circumstances of that corruption, unlikely that anyone here is going to deny what you said as being the most significant root cause?

These huge organisations are enabling it in areas where the vulnerability of the population is not just a factor to be considered but the ENTIRE reason for them being there in the first place. How is it that the facilitation of the use of sex workers is not enforced under gross misconduct? Why is it brushed under the carpet rather than personnel being summarily dismissed for participating in it or enabling it as they would be for misappropriated funds or violence in the workplace?

There are enough in the way of initiatives aimed at commercial sector workers in developing countries being warned about exploitation of child sex workers and the potential legal penalties - NGOs do seem to enjoy holding the moral high ground and perhaps this is why the scramble to protect their reputation and the knock on effects to funding are why this is occurring. I would suggest that's the wider context.

This is not just an issue with men

Fuck off with your "women do it too". This is about male entitlement, not the fact that persons of any sex can be corrupt

@LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett they have been doing some brilliant opinion pieces recently on women’s rights

More in today's Times
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/new-shame-for-oxfam-h5nq8lmfn?shareToken=8e2a67d96a520d4a8f6f68af1e934468

Theres a similar thread elsewhere so I've just copied and pasted what I wrote there -

I spent my younger years on a Caribbean Creole island and tbh aid workers and overseas priests were the worst for trying to accost you on the way home from school. Once you reached around age 13 you knew it was time to work out ways to dodge them. & they regularly used prostitutes too. My mum told me it was the same in her time. It's not a "wow" thing, we all knew the score. & our parents reiterated often strict instructions to aim not to be anywhere near foreign aid workers

Im quite surprised it's news here although I'm glad that it is. I wonder if somehow it's going to be explained away in "not all Aid workers" fashion, or being deemed lies/over-reacting eventually. Oxfam would deny it wouldn't they but their reputation stinks in several countries re certain activities. It isn't just them tho. Sad situation all round.

Carlos? *various

To echo previous posters the whole "Corporation posing as Charity" set up for organisations such as Oxfam is in so many ways rotten to the core and in need of rebuilding.

The main topic of this thread notwithstanding, the profligacy with funds for the Staffs own ends can be shocking.

For example, it is surprising the number of people that play the system to get cushy overseas postings with full medical care, accommodation, school fees etc paid for then use it as en excuse to take 2 or three maternity leaves IN COUNTRY while the charity has to provide cover on an equivalent basis... I'm sure those that donate in the U.K. aren't really aware of how these employment contracts are set up.

Packs of career NGO types scheming to get the next round of funding put their way from DFID, AUSAID or the like and quite openly admitting that it's more to do with being able to maintain their lifestyle and status rather than being about getting the support to the end user and getting best value from the funding. So much time and money wasted on patronising "capacity building" workshops for intelligent and capable locals that just want to be self supporting... there are many good people out there but collectively it's rotten, exploited on all sides in so many ways.

I will say from direct experience that from what I've seen of MSF (in their Carlos denominations) they do try their level best to avoid this sort of thing as far as possible and are the only large NGO that I would consider donating to directly

Awful. Absolutely awful.

What depresses me is that it’s all classes of men. You’d expect men who were in the charity sector, who were there to help disadvantaged people, who understand the dynamics of poverty and inequality, to be different.

Do you ever wonder these organizations don't change their hiring process?

Men are empowered because they're are enough men to feel safe. What if they flipped the system? What if our military was 90% female? What if volunteers abroad were kept female? I know it would require a change in the way they go about hiring and might take a while at first to change demographics but it's such an otherwise simple answer to a terrible problem.

I will never support oxfam again.

And the Times is reporting that some of these men went on to get new jobs with charities as Oxfam did NOT share the information with the new employers.

Fucking pigs. I feel so sick reading about this. I had a weird idea earlier, about setting up a charity to ensure that charities don't endulge in this sort of vileness, and then I thought how grim it was that this situation was even needed. Also sad because I was always really sceptical about exposés of charities as I thought it was then r/wing press trying to make charities look bad. It reminds me of those UN 'peacekeepers' who were doing similar.

I wish I was surprised, but I spent too much time in places where these kinds of orgs operate as a child. The women who work for the orgs sometimes try to intervene, and it never makes any difference.

Lang, you are spot on, I used to work in the sector and stuff I know about is deplorable, I have no faith in charities run like corporates, the misuse of funds is hair-raising, local charities are usually crying out for support and much more honest IME

There's a thread about this on AIBU - few comments sadly!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3163997-AIBU-to-cancel-my-direct-debit-to-Oxfam