Oxfam ‘covered up reports of senior staff hiring prostitutes in Haiti earthquake zone’

Oxfam: The charity is accused of covering up allegations of sexual exploitation
PA
Chloe Chaplain9 February 2018

Oxfam has been accused of covering up the alleged use of prostitutes by senior staff members working in earthquake-hit Haiti in order to protect its reputation.

An investigation carried out by The Times claims that senior staff members paid survivors for sex whilst in the country helping in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake, which left 220,000 dead.

Sources told the newspaper that one of the men held sex “parties” at his villa and described it as being like “a full-on Caligula orgy” with the women dressed in Oxfam t-shirts.

They said some of the sex workers looked like they could be underage and an internal investigation carried out at the charity could not rule out that some of the prostitutes were children.

An internal report compiled by Oxfam in wake of the investigation stated that: "It cannot be ruled out that any of the prostitutes were under-aged."

The charity has denied covering up the allegations and said staff members had decided to resign mid-way through their investigation.

Oxfam: the charity said it has launched a safeguarding team following the allegations 
PA

Oxfam launched the inquiry into sexual exploitation, the downloading of porn and bullying and intimating among teams of workers in Haiti.

One of the employees involved, the country director Roland van Hauwermeiren, was allegedly offered "a phased and dignified exit" because the charity believed sacking him would have "potentially serious implications" for its reputation, according to The Times.

The charity said that Hauwermeiren had resigned after taking "full responsibility for events that took place under his management".

It added that he was allowed to step down "on the basis that he fully cooperated with and supported the investigation".

Two other senior male employees resigned and four were dismissed for gross misconduct relating to allegations that they used prostitutes at accommodation paid for by Oxfam, it its claimed.

Paying for sex is against the charity’s code of conduct and breaches the UN code on the behaviour of aid workers. Prostitution is also illegal in Haiti and the age of consent is 18.

Oxfam said that it did not report any of the incidents to the Haitian authorities because "it was extremely unlikely that any action would be taken".

The charity said in a statement: "The behaviour of some members of Oxfam staff uncovered in Haiti in 2011 was totally unacceptable, contrary to our values and the high standards we expect of our staff. As soon as we became aware of the allegations we immediately launched an internal investigation.

"Our primary aim was always to root out and take action against those involved and we publicly announced, including to media, both the investigation and the action we took as a result.

"Four members of staff were dismissed as a result of the investigation and three, including the country director, resigned before the end of the investigation. Allegations that underage girls may have been involved were not proven.

"After the investigation, we carried out a thorough review of the case which resulted in the creation of our dedicated Safeguarding Team and a confidential 'whistleblowing' hotline as part of a package of measures to ensure that we do all we can to protect our staff, prevent sexual abuse and misconduct happening in the first place and improve how we handle any allegations."

The charity said that, when briefing the media in 2011, it did not specify that the misconduct was of a sexual nature because the misconduct charges "related to a number of offences including the bullying, harassment, intimidation and failure to protect staff as well as sexual misconduct".

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