UNITED KINGDOM
Evening Standard
March 5, 2018
By Nicholas Cecil
The scale of the sex abuse scandal engulfing Britain’s aid charities emerged today after they admitted to 80 cases where victims were harmed or put at risk.
Twenty-six out of 179 organisations told the Government that since mid-February they had identified “safeguarding” cases.
Seven said these had been reported in the current financial year, with the rest more “historic”. The cases include the sexual abuse of people receiving aid as well as volunteers and staff, with children among the alleged victims.
The incidents were across a “wide spectrum”, including where measures to ensure individuals were not put at risk were lacking. Charity chiefs had been kept in the dark by junior staff about some claims.
The International Development Secretary, Penny Mordaunt announced that her department would enforce new standards by refusing to fund charities which failed to meet them.
At a safeguarding summit in Westminster, she said: “Unless we do all we can to prevent wrongdoing, and unless we can hold all those who do wrong to account, we will have failed in our duty to protect the most vulnerable.”
She warned predators exploiting the aid sector that there was “no hiding place”, adding: “We will find you, we will bring you to justice. Your time is up.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.