Please spread the word. We suggest you tweet (just copy and paste):
Survey results in & #aid agencies aren't moving on the #AidOpenLetter demands or reforms needed to address #safeguarding and #AidToo issues. Only surface level changes made, resistance to real change. We must keep pushing.
Read full results:
https://www.changingaid.org/surveyresults.html
Tag an organisation, or someone at an organisation that needs to read this.
Survey results in & #aid agencies aren't moving on the #AidOpenLetter demands or reforms needed to address #safeguarding and #AidToo issues. Only surface level changes made, resistance to real change. We must keep pushing.
Read full results:
https://www.changingaid.org/surveyresults.html
Tag an organisation, or someone at an organisation that needs to read this.
Results from our First Survey
“…all has been VERY vague rather than operational. I lack confidence in the organization's willingness and capabilities to take action in such a situation.”
Statement of progress from a respondent.
Statement of progress from a respondent.
In March 2018, a collective group of women aid workers, saddened and angry at the levels of sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse against women and girls in the aid sector, reached over 1500 self-identifying women aid workers with the #AidOpenLetter. This letter asked for 3 fundamental reforms to shift the patriarchal bias in aid:
1. Trust women: organisations need to take action as soon as women report sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse; allegations must be treated with priority and urgency in their investigation; the subject of a complaint of this nature must be immediately suspended or removed from their position of power and reach of vulnerable women and girls.
2. Listen: foster a culture where whistleblowing is welcome and safe - the way to win back trust of donors, the public and the communities we work with is to be honest about abuses of power and learn from disclosures. Sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse should no longer have to be discussed in hushed tones in our offices.
3. Deeds not words: We need effective leadership, commitment to action and access to resources. It is not enough to develop new policies which are never implemented or funded - with the right tools we can end impunity at all levels in the sector.
The letter was signed by over 1500 self-identifying women working in the aid-sector, but did aid agencies listen?
In June 2018, the group decided to test the progress of the implementation of these reforms. The results show that little has been achieved in the first half of 2018 to improve the ways in which the sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse of women and girls by aid workers is handled and what has been done has been at a very surface level.
On 31st July 2018, the International Development Committee of the UK Parliament published its report on sexual exploitation and abuse in the aid sector. Within that report it states: “Whilst there are clearly actors within the aid community who are dedicated to tackling SEA, the overall impression is one of complacency, verging on complicity”, the result of our survey unfortunately finds that this statement is still largely true, and that the majority of effort has been spent by aid organisations in mitigating reputational damage, rather than in reform or in strengthening of reporting or protection mechanisms. Our informal group of experts, now called ChangingAid, welcomes the IDC’s report and our submission and our members feature heavily within it. The emphasis on the need for gender transformational approaches within the report is further welcomed. Lastly, we take seriously Matthew Rycroft’s (Permanent Secretary, Department for International Development) words in his evidence before the committee, that “nothing is in the “too difficult” box anymore, even if it ever was”. We very much hope that when we repeat this survey, more positive results will be able to be presented.
For now though, our analysis of the survey results from 51 aid workers working across the sector (8 UN agencies and 18 INGOS, 1 consultancy) finds without doubt, that aid agencies have focused on changing policies as a means to ‘prove’ that work on the issues of sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse has happened – either to donors or to the media. It is important to note here that there are some outliers, but the majority of agencies are simply not working to change their culture.
ChangingAid continues to recommend that donors should:
ChangingAid continues to recommend that Humanitarian and Development agencies should:
These recommendations are inextricably linked to the 3 fundamental reforms laid out in the #AidOpenLetter. We hope for more positive results when we repeat the survey at the end of the year. If we do not see more positive results, we may (when safe to do so) name organisations that are reported to be performing particularly poorly.
1. Trust women: organisations need to take action as soon as women report sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse; allegations must be treated with priority and urgency in their investigation; the subject of a complaint of this nature must be immediately suspended or removed from their position of power and reach of vulnerable women and girls.
2. Listen: foster a culture where whistleblowing is welcome and safe - the way to win back trust of donors, the public and the communities we work with is to be honest about abuses of power and learn from disclosures. Sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse should no longer have to be discussed in hushed tones in our offices.
3. Deeds not words: We need effective leadership, commitment to action and access to resources. It is not enough to develop new policies which are never implemented or funded - with the right tools we can end impunity at all levels in the sector.
The letter was signed by over 1500 self-identifying women working in the aid-sector, but did aid agencies listen?
In June 2018, the group decided to test the progress of the implementation of these reforms. The results show that little has been achieved in the first half of 2018 to improve the ways in which the sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse of women and girls by aid workers is handled and what has been done has been at a very surface level.
On 31st July 2018, the International Development Committee of the UK Parliament published its report on sexual exploitation and abuse in the aid sector. Within that report it states: “Whilst there are clearly actors within the aid community who are dedicated to tackling SEA, the overall impression is one of complacency, verging on complicity”, the result of our survey unfortunately finds that this statement is still largely true, and that the majority of effort has been spent by aid organisations in mitigating reputational damage, rather than in reform or in strengthening of reporting or protection mechanisms. Our informal group of experts, now called ChangingAid, welcomes the IDC’s report and our submission and our members feature heavily within it. The emphasis on the need for gender transformational approaches within the report is further welcomed. Lastly, we take seriously Matthew Rycroft’s (Permanent Secretary, Department for International Development) words in his evidence before the committee, that “nothing is in the “too difficult” box anymore, even if it ever was”. We very much hope that when we repeat this survey, more positive results will be able to be presented.
For now though, our analysis of the survey results from 51 aid workers working across the sector (8 UN agencies and 18 INGOS, 1 consultancy) finds without doubt, that aid agencies have focused on changing policies as a means to ‘prove’ that work on the issues of sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse has happened – either to donors or to the media. It is important to note here that there are some outliers, but the majority of agencies are simply not working to change their culture.
ChangingAid continues to recommend that donors should:
- Appropriately fund INGOs and NGOs to support their prevention and response to SEA.
- Increase funding to support human resources work on SEA, sexual harassment and child safeguarding.
- Recognize that in order to support safe and effective programming and increase action and accountability when SEA occurs, overhead funding needs to be increased.
- Understand that the more that SEA cases which are reported within NGOs the better – this shows a robust reporting mechanism is in place. However, this is not enough; reporting must be accompanied by investment in investigation capacity which protects whistleblowers, survivors of sexual violence and due process.
- Support the creation and running of an independent SEA interagency humanitarian reporting system with an attached independent investigation team. This independent body should enable reference checks on potential new hires to ensure employees proven to have committed SEA are not serially rehired within the industry.
- Work with, train and fund Women’s Rights Organisations to deliver humanitarian assistance – localisation should not replicate patriarchy, but be a mechanism to break it.
ChangingAid continues to recommend that Humanitarian and Development agencies should:
- Acknowledge the international development and humanitarian sectors are patriarchal and therefore systemically perpetrate and excuse VAWG.
- Commit to changing norms and practices to empower women - particularly women who experience multiple forms of discrimination and oppression (including oppression based on race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, class etc.) change cultural norms to change and challenge gender inequality, power differentiation based on other axis of oppression and to promote safety for all.
- Do not discriminate against or fire women (or men) who disclose sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse either perpetrated against them or others - this perpetuates a climate of fear and intimidation. Intimidation and hostility in the workplace can take many forms and can range from isolating a person, to verbal abuse, to increasing workload. A hostile work environment may be created when management acts in a manner designed to make an employee quit in retaliation.
- Adequately fund sexual exploitation and abuse reporting mechanisms, training and investigations. Take all reports seriously.
- Increase the size of your GBV and/or gender team. Do not expect one or two people to be able to do everything on GBV, Gender and on SEA.
- Invest in GBV, Gender Equality and Prevention and Response to SEA teams and programming.
- Create SEA policies. Many agencies simply do not have these in place yet. But don’t stop there, policies are not an end in themselves.
- Investigate SEA appropriately, report to the police in country if it is a crime, and fire the perpetrator if proven to be guilty.
- Close all ‘loop-holes’ in the system – including loop-holes regarding taking responsibility for contractor’s/sub-contractors actions.
- Not assume that white men are not perpetrators of GBV. GBV and gender inequality are universal. Further, racial hierarchies are exacerbated by inequality in pay between colleagues from the global North and global South. White men in development and humanitarian contexts are therefore in positions of great power with limited legal or organisational oversight.
- Stop deprioritizing issues relating to women and girls – there is never a ‘greater good’, SEA and harassment are not acceptable, and it is never acceptable to knowingly continue to put women and girls at risk in order to meet indicators or deliver humanitarian assistance.
- Ensure that women count when we consider ‘do no harm’
These recommendations are inextricably linked to the 3 fundamental reforms laid out in the #AidOpenLetter. We hope for more positive results when we repeat the survey at the end of the year. If we do not see more positive results, we may (when safe to do so) name organisations that are reported to be performing particularly poorly.
Key results
Favourable results
Areas requiring immediate improvement
Lack of women’s space, lack of respect for women’s experience and skills
Basics still not in place
- In answer to the question ‘has the organisation formally discussed the current public revelations of sexual abuse, exploitation and harassment of women within the sector?’ 88% said that there had been some discussion.
- However, only 7.8% of respondents felt that formal discussion had happened at all levels of the organisation.
- 65% of respondents reported that a review of policies had taken place internally. However, this leaves 29% without any review, and 6% without any understanding if a review had taken place.
Areas requiring immediate improvement
- 62% of respondents stated that specific commitments had been made to staff members, partners, supporters or donors about how the organisation is responding to issues of sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse. However, 38% did not think that any new commitments had been made at all.
Lack of women’s space, lack of respect for women’s experience and skills
- In order to ensure that transformational change takes place, an empowered all-women space is required within the workplace to discuss gendered workplace experiences. 75% of respondents stated that their workplace did not have a formal all-women’s space.
- Only 33% of respondents stated that women with relevant expertise have been at the centre of policy review, formal discussions or communications (25% stated “on the surface”, 22% stated “no”, and 20% “didn’t know”).
- 40% of respondents felt that female staff members who disclosed issues relating to sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse had not been protected or supported. 11% didn’t know.
Basics still not in place
- When asked it there was a clear understanding in the workplace of how to recognise harmful sexualised and abusive behaviours by men towards women, 76% (or over three quarters) or responses stated that this was not something which was in place.
- 75% of respondents either didn’t know (28%) or were certain that their was not (47%) an effective system in place to responding to sexualised and abusive behaviour by men towards women.
- 75% of respondents, still, nearly half a year after media attention on this issue intensified, do not trust their organisation’s systems to keep women staff members, and women and girls who benefit from aid safe.
- 44% of respondents stated that their organisation’s policies failed to address sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse from a perspective which recognises gender inequality, and other intersecting inequalities, as the root cause of the problem. A further 19% did not know.
Download the full report here:
| progress_report.pdf |
