When the 2010 series of earthquakes struck Haiti, hundreds of charities and organizations began aiding the country through increased funds, developmental aid, medical care, etc. Since then, sexual misconduct claims have come to light regarding two aid organization in Haiti – Oxfam of Great Britain and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Beginning with the ICRC, 21 staff members have been fired or they resigned due to “paying for sexual services.” As for Oxfam, it has been suspended altogether from operating in Haiti after reports of sexual misconduct. Oxfam’s suspension is to last for two months while the Haitian government investigates the situation itself, due to Oxfam not having investigated or reported properly the crimes. Oxfam has publicly issued apologies to the Haitian government regarding the 2011 prostitution scandal. In a report on the scandal, it was stated that it is unclear whether or not any of the sex workers were underage. With this, one of the men being accused of hiring prostitutes defended his innocence by stating, “I had up to three times intimate contact in my house. She was, in my opinion, a mature honorable lady, not an earthquake victim and no prostitute.” It is terribly inappropriate for these aid workers to have been seeking prostitutes for their pleasure, as they weren’t in Haiti to vacation, but to offer assistance to the crisis. The situation has been described as a clear “abuse of power,” where the aid workers were taking advantage of the possibly helpless Haitians, who were probably just trying to earn extra money to help out their families. On top of this, it is unknown if aid workers were using organization funds or pocket money to hire the prostitutes. If they had used the organization funds to hire prostitutes this would be a gross abuse of resources and could potentially result in a loss of donations once people know what their money is really going towards – 7,00 people have stopped contributing donations to Oxfam since the initial allegations. It’s unsettling to think about how money that could be buying food is instead being used to buy sex. The allegations have brought attention to what could be a worldwide predicament in which aid workers all around exploit local women. Consequently, Oxfam’s reputation has been severely damaged and many affiliates have been cutting ties with the organization.
