UK warns charities after Oxfam scam
The British Government yesterday said it is warning all charities that receive UK aid to step up efforts to tackle sexual misconduct among staff or face having their funding cut, amid further fallout from a prostitution scandal involving Oxfam workers in Haiti in 2011.
The International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt revealed she was writing to the charities to insist they spell out what steps they are taking on the issue and confirm they have referred all concerns about specific cases and individuals to the relevant authorities.
The hardening stance follows reports in The Times that young sex workers were hired by Oxfam's senior staff in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake which devastated the island and left up to 300,000 people dead, and that the UK-based charity tried to cover up the scandal at the time.
In the latest revelations, the Sunday Times reports more than 120 workers for Britain's leading charities were accused of sexual abuse in the past year, "fuelling fears paedophiles are targeting overseas aid organisations".
Oxfam -- which employs around 5,000 staff and has 23,000 more volunteers -- recorded 87 incidents last year, referring 53 to the police or authorities and dismissing 20 staff or volunteers, according to the paper.
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