Doctors Without Borders found a pattern of abuse and sexual exploitation by some local and foreign staff. In some cases targeting children or trading food or jobs for sex with refugees. The Doctors Without Borders report found 59 allegations of abuse and said 18 staff members were dismissed. Several aid organisations have staff members who exploit crisis victims, as well as locally employed colleagues, for improper purposes.
KHARTOUM JUNE 17: Doctors Without Borders found a pattern of abuse and sexual exploitation by some local and foreign staff working in Chad along the Sudanese border , in some cases targeting children or trading food or jobs for sex with refugees, according to a confidential internal memo obtained by The Associated Press.
The Doctors Without Borders report — completed in July and first reported Saturday by The Associated Press — found 59 allegations of abuse and said 18 staff members were dismissed and barred from future employment.
The internal investigation followed an AP investigation published in November 2024, which revealed that Sudanese women seeking refuge in Chad were being offered jobs and assistance in exchange for sex by aid workers and local security forces.
The findings by Doctors Without Borders, indicate the abuse was more widespread than previously reported. Doctors Without Borders told the allegations couldn’t be verified or the perpetrators identified. The report also said some of the repeated exploitation suggested potentially organized “sexual trafficking.”
This is not the first time that staff from Médecins Sans Frontières have been accused of exploiting women while on assignment. In 2018, it emerged that aid workers at Medecins Sans Frontieres used local prostitutes while working in Africa, whistleblowers told. Female former employees said the behaviour was widespread. The charity said it does not tolerate “abuse, harassment or exploitation”. The use of prostitutes is banned by MSF under its strict code of conduct.
This course of action is not isolated to Médecins Sans Frontières only. For example, aid organization Oxfam employees have been accused of sexually exploiting people affected by crisis. Several aid organisations have staff members who exploit crisis victims, as well as locally employed colleagues, for improper purposes.
Image: ILO/Jeffrey Leventhal
