Oxfam sacks 22 staff over sexual abuse allegations
Out of 5,000 staff, Oxfam has seen 36 per cent increase in claims about sexual exploitation and abuse
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Oxfam has dismissed 22 staff over allegations of sexual abuse in the last year.
The dismissals come as campaigners ask governments to take a closer look at the funding they provide to aid groups.
Reports of Oxfam staff’s inappropriate behaviour emerged during media spotlight on the dozens of allegations of sexual abuse, harassment and discrimination from women and men facing disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein and other high-profile figures in media, politics and the arts.
Oxfam, which employs around 5,000 people, said it dealt with 87 claims of sexual exploitation and abuse involving its staff in one year to the end of April, a 36 per cent increase in one year.
“Donors and government entities need to ask more questions of the people that they are funding,” aid worker Megan Nobert told Reuters.
Ms Nobert founded the Report the Abuse campaign group after she was raped by a colleague while on assignment at a UN peacekeeping base in South Sudan.
About three quarters of the claims resulted in disciplinary action, Oxfam said, while it referred 53 claims to the police and carried out internal investigations for 33 claims.
“Oxfam treats all allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation very seriously,” Oxfam said in a statement, adding that data on allegations of sexual abuse by staff was published in its annual reports.
Campaigners say that many victims of abuse do not report the incident as they feel fear, shame, and worry about damage to their career.
The UK charity regulator has received 1,131 reports of serious safeguarding incidents from charities in 2016, including allegations of sexual abuse.
Agencies contributed to this report
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments