"It's not as if we murdered babies in their cots" - Oxfam

The best way for aid workers to visit brothels...?. I can't believe what I'm reading.

a rule of NO SEXUAL INTERACTION WHATSOEVER WITH ANY OF THE LOCALS

Yes to this.

a rule of NO SEXUAL INTERACTION WHATSOEVER WITH ANY OF THE LOCALS.

If they want sex then they find another willing aid worker / or go without.

A bit like the rules of no sexual interaction in student/tutor, police-officer/victim, social worker/client relationships?

That would be novel, wouldn't it?

That article is appalling! Honestly going without sex whilst on trips to these countries would just seem like an expected part of the job, no? Don't we expect that from soldiers sent on deployments to places like Afghanistan for months at a time? Why would aid workers consider themselves any different?

Making decisions on the best way for staff to visit brothels is a familiar dilemma for some humanitarian logistics managers

#peakguardian
#peaksexualexploitation
#peakrape
#peakmen

Yes Lass I read that article on Twitter. Peak Guardian.

amp.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/jul/29/aid-worker-rape-humanitarian-south-sudan-sexual-violence

It's not just local women

That article!

Human right # 1 for these organisations

Men have a human right to sex.

How many women working out there were visiting brotels? I'm willing to guess not very many. We seem to be able to understand that sexual explitation is bad, and don't tend to pay for sex. We are capable with going without if there isn't a willing partner. Meanwhile,men abuse their power all over the world every day to obtain sex.

So yes as an experiment, there should be women in these roles and see how that goes.

Failing that, a rule of NO SEXUAL INTERACTION WHATSOEVER WITH ANY OF THE LOCALS.

If they want sex then they find another willing aid worker / or go without.

I think he needs to resign immediately.

There is no way back after that comment.

In terms of supporting Oxfam anymore, I just can’t do it. Raping under age victims exposed to the most horrific tragedies is sickening. Unless there are successful prosecutions, the current CEO resigns and the charity is overhauled from the top down by a competent female CEO determined to remove the rot then they will never ever get my support again.

I would say it is game over

World vision have admitted its staff in Haiti were making people pay for aid (aid paid for through donations) with either money or sex.

Aid agencies have put the country in a position where a lot of the work that could be done by locals is being done by volunteers from other countries. How do they think the locals will pay for that aid?

The patriarchal approach these big charities take to developing countries is problematic.

Maybe they think it's empowering for them, earning their aid, rather than being given it...

I have a horrifying feeling there are many anti SWERF lefty dudebros and handmaidens who think exactly that.

This is the article I was trying to find yesterday.

Why it's time we talked about the sex lives of humanitarians

www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/jul/10/humanitarian-workers-sex-global-development?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard

Making decisions on the best way for staff to visit brothels is a familiar dilemma for some humanitarian logistics managers. While providing the organisation's car ensures the driver is likely to get humanitarians home safely, having its logo on a jeep outside a brothel is hardly ideal for the organisation's reputation.

Written by 2 female journalists and taking the same unfortunate line that Mary Beard seems to be taking of "oh well it's tough out there but people have needs"

What troubles me is if the charities that state they help girls with eg education, not getting married off, all that stuff, if they feel like this, then how does that fit? Oh we'll support them til they're old enough and try to see that they get "better loives" but then at this cut-off age anything goes it's fine for our people to coerce them into sex...

Amnesty is pro prostitution so in general I think that indicates issues with this in the sector. loads of people stopped supporting amnesty over that

That is the key thing Irene - people like that CEO genuinely don't see women as people. His argument is that babies weren't killed so what are we getting all fussed about - the implication being that no one was really hurt because no actual people were abused, it was only the dark skinned things with vaginas that his mates sometimes like to use for fun.

This sort of attitude is not news to any feminist, but it seems to take a long time for some women to realise it exists - perhaps because it's so awful and hard to accept?

I just read the interview. What struck me most (apart from the fact that the Oxfam CEO really needs some media training) was his failure to express any concern or interest in the prostituted women involved. They didn't really seem to exist as people for him.

It suggests an attitude of senior management at save the children though. They only asked him to resign because the women threatened to go to the police. So an attempt to protect their and his reputations

I agree that it's tragic that we are all with drawing our donations, because a lot of good is done by most of these charities.

But what else have we got to make them stop?

The legal powers that be haven't managed it.

If we all carry on, I can just imagine this man, who is quoted in the OP, saying
" Well we still have donations flooding in so obviously people don't mind"

Isn't save the children where the Brendan fix scandal occurred?

He worked at Save the Children but in a managerial/ admin/ fund raising office role - not in the field.

You're legally not allowed to ring round all the other charities telling them not to employ Fred because he was up to dodgy stuff in Haiti.

I work in HR at an aid agency and I don't agree. This is a cowardly, pathetic, miserable excuse. Sue a charity then Mr Roland van Bigdick, let's see you in court, prosecuting Oxfam over your rights to rape women and children whilst distributing aid? Prove you didn't do it big man.This is just the shitiest, shit nonsense ever, hiding behind the law on this one. Doners expect zero tolerance, not ambiguity, and collusion like this.

Isn't save the children where the Brendan fix scandal occurred?

Also love the straw man upthread, no one has suggested that women are incapable causing harm.

All available stats do point to them being far less likely to rape or sexually abuse, and so if it were all women, maybe just maybe this problem would decrease by many times. And it couldn't be worse than the current situation, with male (all the stories I've read have been about males) sexually exploiting and raping those they are sent to look after, including children, with seemingly little consequence.

Save the children did a report warning about this 10 years ago so maybe they have their house in order?

I don't know any grass roots orgs or anything sorry.

O fam isn’t on my monthly donation list but I do contribute at different times.
What would knowledgeable people suggest as a good replacement - how fucked up that we need to source an ethical charitable organisation.

First, do no harm.

That was to biscuitmillionaire

We're aware there's a massive and well-fundeded pro-prostitution lobby out there which has captured Amnesty, among other allegedly feminist organisations.

I don't think many posters here think that justifies the exploitation and rape of vulnerable women and girls, whatever their age.