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Sexual Exploitation and Abuse of Aid Beneficiaries
14 January 2021
Lead MP
Sarah Champion
Debate Type
Ministerial Statement
Tags
Safeguarding & DBSForeign Affairs
Other Contributors: 11
At a Glance
Sarah Champion raised concerns about sexual exploitation and abuse of aid beneficiaries in the House of Commons. A government minister responded. Other MPs also contributed.
How the Debate Unfolded
MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said:
Government Statement
I speak to the report issued by the International Development Committee titled “Progress on tackling the sexual exploitation and abuse of aid beneficiaries”. The report, launched in July 2020, highlights that 26% of respondents witnessed sexual exploitation and abuse of aid recipients. This issue is prevalent due to power imbalances between aid workers and local communities, where victims are often reliant on aid for basic needs. Despite efforts like the International Safeguarding Summits and the FCDO's safeguarding strategy, abuse continues with 73% believing it remains a problem. The Committee recommends that all aid agencies inform recipients of their rights and entitlements, including complaint mechanisms. Incidents in Haiti, DRC during Ebola response, and Myanmar show persistent failures. Sexual exploitation and abuse are enabled by racist, colonial, and sexist attitudes within the sector, with only 8% believing the culture is robust enough to prevent abuse. Only 16% felt their organisation had safe reporting mechanisms. The Committee urges embedding safeguarding in every project, identifying perpetrators, and empowering local communities, especially women's groups. Whistleblowers must be protected, and aid workers should undergo Disclosure and Barring Service checks.
David Mundell
Con
Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale
Question
Although the report does not make for comfortable reading, I welcome it and the efforts of the Committee to ensure best practice within the aid sector. Does the hon. Lady agree that it is imperative that the UK Government now embed safeguarding in all their development work and that they sanction aid organisations, including multilateral organisations, that fail to do so?
Minister reply
I completely agree with the right hon. Gentleman. Unless that happens, the abuse will continue. It is the Government’s duty to do that. They are spending taxpayers’ money, and they need to be accountable for that.
Navendu Mishra
Lab
Stockport
Question
This report from the International Development Committee is very important, and I would like to pay tribute to all the staff who have served the Committee and send my best wishes to Fergus Reid, the principal Clerk to the Committee, who is taking some time off. After a lot of fanfare, the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative is a skeleton of its former self. Does my hon. Friend agree that, without the political will from the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, the ability of the initiative to have a positive impact will continue to dwindle?
Minister reply
I thank my hon. Friend and fellow Committee member, and I completely agree. We need to see the broader perspective on this, and unless we deal with and prevent violence against women and girls in all its forms, these examples of where it pops up—whether it is violence in war or violence towards aid workers—will just keep on happening. The Government have great strategies in place for this, but they need to embed them in all their work.
Question
Since concluding our inquiry, the scale of the reductions to UK aid have become much clearer. Does the Committee Chairman agree that the Government must ensure that cuts do not lead to aid delivery partners and contractors reducing operational standards and leaving women and girls at increased risk? How can the Government ensure that their tenders for aid projects, and bids in reply, require effective provision for spending on safeguarding?
Minister reply
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question and for his work on the Committee. At the moment only 0.3% of Government funding goes specifically to women and girls’ projects, so I share his concern that with a third now taken away from the aid budget they will be the ones really let down by this system. I urge the Government to stop that. They have to embed safeguarding in every aspect of their work and make sure they fund aid organisations to do the same.
Wera Hobhouse
Lib Dem
Bath
Question
I thank the Select Committee for this very important report. Is it not the case that organisations that receive Government grants should have robust procedures in place, including complaints procedures, so the Government can monitor and approve? Should those procedures not be required by the Government before any organisation receives any funding?
Minister reply
I completely agree. It is one of our recommendations that not only do the Government audit and ensure safeguarding policies are in place, but that they are acted on. When the Government feel there are shortcomings, there should be sanctions, including financial sanctions.
Question
As always, it is an honour to speak to my fellow Rotherham MP. I welcome the Select Committee’s work on tackling the sexual exploitation and abuse of aid beneficiaries, but inevitably there will be a power and wealth imbalance in the sector. We must never accept that that inevitability will lead to exploitation. Does the hon. Lady agree that we must do more through our safeguarding standards and that we must act quickly?
Minister reply
I thank my honourable neighbour. I agree. The best way to stop abuse and achieve value for money on aid projects is to involve local people in delivery and safeguarding, and in the building of and reporting on such projects.
Ruth Jones
Lab
Newport West and Islwyn
Question
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for all the many years of work she has done on these important issues. Does she agree that Ministers must urgently set out what steps they are taking to work with local populations to dismantle imbalanced power dynamics, and what actions they are taking to ensure aid organisations do the same?
Minister reply
I agree with my hon. Friend. What we need to see now is the Minister step up and outline how the Government are going to address the imbalance between recipients and aid workers which many seek to exploit.
Question
I thank the hon. Lady for her statement. My belief, having been involved since 2018, is that it is no good having tick-boxes for organisations when it is well known that it is endemic in the sector. It is also no good putting up notices in refugee camps in different places, because many of the women and girls cannot read. How are they going to report the situation anyway? Does she agree that now, having done this latest report, which is still pretty damning, the FCDO needs to cut off the funding for organisations—whoever they are—and publicise what they are doing and why, so it gets out that nobody is above the law?
Minister reply
May I take this moment, Madam Deputy Speaker, to pay tribute to the hon. Lady who is a member of the Committee? She fought to get the first two reports into sexual abuse in the aid sector off the ground and continues to fight for women’s rights around the world. I completely agree with her.
Jim Shannon
DUP
Strangford
Question
I thank the Chair and the Select Committee for all they have done on a very difficult and emotive topic. The Committee has made a number of suggestions for changes to end the cycle of abuse. Can the Chair confirm that the goal of prosecuting sexual offenders overseas is achievable and will be available as redress to non-governmental organisations in every form, not just those funded or part-funded by Government?
Minister reply
Abusers are getting off the hook because aid organisations have put prosecuting them into the “too difficult” box. It is not too difficult, and we owe it to the survivors to do that.
Question
I thank the Chair and the Committee for an extremely important report on this difficult and poignant area. Some of the individuals most vulnerable to sexual exploitation are people with disabilities. Will the Chair comment on what more can be done to ensure that people with disabilities in the aid sector have the support they need to know their rights, communicate their experiences, and navigate any criminal justice system?
Minister reply
The hon. Member is absolutely right. The inquiry found that there is so much discrimination, and the power imbalances that exist are not being challenged by the aid organisations.
Preet Kaur Gill
Lab Co-op
Birmingham Edgbaston
Question
The covid-19 pandemic and measures taken to contain it have exacerbated gender inequality around the world, creating yet greater power imbalances and raising the risk of abuse and exploitation. DFID’s strategic vision for gender equality 2030 provided a strong framework to ensure that the rights of women and girls, and gender equality, continue to be prioritised in development and humanitarian responses. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office must formally adopt that framework? What assessment has her Committee made of the impact of the upcoming cuts to the aid budget on the ability of safeguarding to be at the heart of our official development assistance programmes?
Minister reply
I thank my hon. Friend for her powerful question, which gets to the nub of this issue. I have no idea why the FCDO has not formally adopted the gender strategy that DFID put in place in 2018.
Shadow Comment
David Mundell
Shadow Comment
Although the report does not make for comfortable reading, I welcome it and the efforts of the Committee to ensure best practice within the aid sector. Does the hon. Lady agree that it is imperative that the UK Government now embed safeguarding in all their development work and sanction organisations failing to do so?
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Assessment & feedback
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