15 Feb 2018

Oxfam NZ confirms two past sex abuse cases

From Morning Report, 7:47 am on 15 February 2018

The sex scandal involving one of the world's biggest charities has deepened, with allegations workers demanded sex for aid and carried out abuse.

Oxfam deputy chief executive Penny Lawrence resigned, saying the organisation was too slow to deal with complaints about aid workers hiring prostitutes in Haiti and Chad. Now the Haitian government is seeking the arrest of Roland van Hauwermeiren,

Oxfam's head of mission in Haiti in the period straight after the country's devastating 2010 earthquake. Mr van Hauwermeiren, is accused of paying locals for sex - which is illegal in Haiti.

The Haitian President posted a comment to twitter saying: "There is nothing more outrageous and dishonest than a sexual predator who uses his position as part of the humanitarian response to a natural disaster to exploit needy people in their moment of greatest vulnerability."

Oxfam New Zealand's executive director Rachael Le Mesurier joins Susie Ferguson with her response to the scandal.

She says Oxfam NZ found two past cases of sexual abuse, and the staff members involved do not work for the organisation now.

"As a result of this we've gone back through every single employment file we have, prior to me, as well as the ones that have been in the last four years. 

"We've found two cases that had components of sexual misconduct in them. We've acted fast, those people are not working for Oxfam, they were moved very quickly," she says.

"We're talking ones that are far, far lower than the ones that are in the allegation of Haiti - things like inappropriate sexual behaviour, comments, those sorts of things."

She told Susie Ferguson she couldn't go into detail but clarified that one was in Polynesia and one in New Zealand. 

"One of those cases involved sexual flirting - inappropriate words... with someone who wasn't part of Oxfam, someone who wasn't a direct beneficiary." Ms Le Mesurier emphasised the cases did "not at all" involve sex in exchange for aid.