Report: Aid Workers Abusing Kids

Save The Children UK Alleges Rampant Child Sex Abuse By Aid Workers In Disaster Areas

(AP)  A Save the Children UK report released Tuesday alleges rampant sexual abuse of children at the hands of peacekeepers and international aid workers in war zones and disaster areas.

The report said more than half the children interviewed knew of cases of coerced sex and improper sexual touching, and that in many instances children knew of 10 or more such incidents carried out by aid workers or peacekeepers.

In some cases, children as young as 6 years old were abused, the report said.

The study is based on research, confidential interviews and focus groups conducted last year in three places with a substantial international aid presence: southern Sudan, Haiti, and Ivory Coast. The group said it did not produce comprehensive statistics about the scale of abuse but did gather enough information to prove that the problem is severe.

"The report shows sexual abuse has been widely underreported because children are afraid to come forward," Jasmine Whitbread, chief executive of Save the Children UK, told Associated Press Television News. "A tiny proportion of peacekeepers and aid workers are abusing the children they were sent to protect. It ranges from sex for food to coerced sex. It's despicable."

The researchers, who met with 129 girls and 121 boys between the ages of 10 and 17, and also with a number of adults, found an "overwhelming" majority of the people interviewed would never report a case of abuse and had never heard of a case being reported.

The threat of retaliation, and the stigma attached to sex abuse, were powerful deterrents to coming forward, the report said.

Ann Buchanan, director of the Oxford Center for Research into Parenting and Children at the University of Oxford, said the report does not produce comprehensive, statistical data about sexual abuse.

But she said the report does present a useful "pilot work" that outlines the scope of the problem.

"Sexual abuse is a hugely difficult, sensitive area and it's not something that you can usually do surveys about because kids feel terrible shame and are afraid to say what's happened to them," she said. "Given what we know about underreporting of sex abuse, I would say this report is probably true. They've gone about it as sensitively as you can."

Save the Children spokesman Dominic Nutt said U.N. peacekeepers are involved in many abuse cases because they are present throughout the world in such large numbers. But he praised the United Nations for improving its reporting and investigative procedures regarding sex abuse.

"We're not singling out the U.N.," he said. "In some ways they do a good job. It's all peacekeepers and all aid workers, including Save the Children." The report says that several Save the Children workers were fired for having sex with 17-year-old girls in violation of agency guidelines.

U.N. officials in New York said the study shows the effort to combat sexual abuse is falling short.

"The report is deeply disturbing," said Nick Birnback, spokesman for the U.N. Peacekeeping Department. "We in U.N. peacekeeping over the past few years have put a number of measures in place to address this difficult and painful issue. However, obviously, more remains to be done. We are determined to ensure that the secretary-general's policy of zero tolerance of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers is fully implemented on the ground."

The problem was spotlighted in December 2006, when U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, whose term has since expired, and other high level officials from various agencies promised renewed efforts to curb abuses.

In its report, Save the Children UK makes three key recommendations: establishing a way for people to report abuse locally, creating an international watchdog agency this year to deal with the problem and setting up a program to deal with the underlying causes of child abuse.

Tom Cargill, Africa program manager at London's Chatham House, said there is no "magic bullet" that can solve the problem quickly.

He said the United Nations is beset by a number of bureaucratic and legal problems when it comes to investigating abuses committed by peacekeepers.

"The governance of U.N. missions has always been a problem because soldiers from individual states are only beholden to those states," he said.

"So it's difficult for the U.N. to pursue charges and difficult for the U.N. to investigate them. Information is sketchy but we know there are tremendous abuses in war zones and in complex emergencies."

[floydzeppl]

Where did these aid workers and peackeepers come from? A FLDS Compound in Texas?

[lochlan-2009]

Castration is a quick solution for these pedophiles.

[acolton1]

Do they do a back ground check on these Aid Workers. I bet they are all on some kind of Offender List.

[rmsdm4]

This is why we need to move the UN headquarters to Darfur and Haiti. Get this useless organization off American soil and turn the headquarters into affordable housing.

[docpeter-2009]

RE: zoe2006 wrote, "The Aides workers are not American. Most Aides workers are European, Pacific or Northern Africa. Since many areas are quite dangerous (Dafar, Congo), and most of the people have a distrust of Westerners, the Aides workers tend to be African, Middle Eastern or Pakistan."

Do you have a very reliable source for this?

I will agree that the gist of this article is a very very sad situation. It is dispicable at best.

"The UN brings in a lot of financial cash and business to NY."

Is this the only reason we have the UN here on American soil, for the $$ it brings to NY?

[bretster7]

Wow...You liberal haters are falling down on the job. It took you six posts to blame it on Bush. Come on and pick up the pace,George Soros is counting on you.

[rmsdm4]

Yes it is the UN''s resposibility to police their own. Just as the president is responsible for the actions of the military.

[missingamerica]

Yuck...gross...disgusting...evil...using a position of power to abuse children.

And to satisfy bretster7, it sorta reminds me of rich Republican Senators and members of the House voting to cut off Federal spending on America''s poor and their children...''cuz who knows what those children and their parents will have to do to ensure their survival.

[aid2ky]

I would like to know what the names were of the fired workers to see if they are listed under pedifiles in the usa and deal will them here.

[aid2ky]

will London/Interpol share names of the fired workers with the USA for entry/check of known pedifiles/*** offenders?

[kenhamlett]

Bear in mind that this should not surprise anyone. It is often a situation of people who want to abuse others seeking out positions where they have control over the lives of others. This is not limited to poor third world countries or refugees. It can be anywhere with a broad range of victims. As you read of this please bear in mind that it should not be viewed as some abstract story of far away events. Control of others is the first step to abuse of others.

[missingamerica]

Control of others is the first step to abuse of others.

Posted by kenhamlett at 04:35 PM : May 27, 2008

Hey - did you just plagiarize Hannibal Lechter?

lolll...

[bretster7]

And to satisfy bretster7, it sorta reminds me of rich Republican Senators

ibsteve,

Why don''t you check out the ratio of rich Democrats vs rich Republicans in both houses, it may surprise you, but then that would take away one of your lie filled talking points would it not?

[bretster7]

Because I know you would not believe it ibsteve, here you go.....

Republicans on the list outnumbered Democrats by a narrow margin of 22 to 18. However, Democratic senators hold the top five spots on the list and eight of the top ten, according to an analysis of the forms by CNN.


So enough of the "Rich Republicans politicians" and the " just like us working class Democrats" you will loose that arguement every time.

[darnedsocks]

DON''T YOU THINK THAT PEDOPHILES ARE ATTRACTED TO WORK THAT INVOLVES CHILDREN? PERHAPS A BETTER SCREENING PROCESS UP FRONT WOULD HELP?

[Syndicate]

If your looking to stick it to liberals this is a good story. Why? Because of Abu Graihb. How many leftist came unglued over American troops abusing Iraqis? How many have come unglued over a far worse crime? This will never get the attention the Iraqi story got because it does nothing to further the liberal agenda.

[patriot12436]

Now here is a valid reason to declare a war. Declare war on all pedophiles, a reward if brought in alive, double the reward if brought in dead.