As I prepared for my presentation on sexual and gender based violence (GBV), I shuffled through the reading- things you'd expect (rape, sodomy, trafficking) and the things you wouldn't think of (trading sex for rations, boy-preference as GBV, etc). What disturbed me the most was the dirty, unsexy fact that a large portion of GBV is committed by the very people that are meant to protect these already vulnerable populations. Humanitarian workers. Police offers. Peacekeepers. It baffles me and makes my head spin in circles trying to get a grasp around it.
In 2002 UNHCR put out a report about the outstanding levels of violence perpetrated by humanitarian workers. The report quoted refugees and other workers, young girls saying they were told only girls who had sex with the workers would get food, or aid workers who said they knew about it but did nothing to stop it.
Today we had a guest speaker who mentioned this study and how the aid world was appalled. Yet, in 2006, UNHCR released another report saying nothing had changed. She (working for a US govt org) said that they discovered gross offenses by a NGO in Northern Uganda and they published a report the NGO was not happy about.
So I asked... well, you published the report. And they were unhappy. And you probably didn't fund them again. And then what? What happened to these offenders?
Her response: Excellent question. Nothing.
The ICRC is working on this problem, but in the meantime, she said some of these offenders are fired. Some are just reprimanded. Some return home. And live normal, happy lives. In the meantime, they leave behind women and children, already facing tsunamis, civil war and now being exploited by those mandated to protect... what happens to them?
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