Nearly eight years after it raised some £60 million for relief efforts in earthquake-stricken Haiti — the Oxfam brand today stands torn to shreds. Whether or not it can recover remains to be seen. Though, for many, the fact that the British charity kept its internal probe into a sex scandal — dating back to 2011 and involving its aid workers and local prostitutes who may or may not have been underage — out of the public eye until now smacks of a cover-up. Indeed, the only reason that we know what we do now is because the original whistle-blower approached one of Britain’s most reputable broadsheets. Among the most alarming details to emerge from the Times of London exposé is how the then director of the Oxfam mission in Haiti invited sex workers to a guesthouse rented by the charity; as well as separate accounts, believed not to have involved the Belgian national, of orgies being held. But by far the gravest concern pertains to the then Chief Executive of the charity, Dame Barbara Stocking, who chose not to report any of this to the local authorities or, indeed, the British government. The skewered rationale appears to be that there was no proof that the girls were underage; which in Haiti means below 18 years. The whistle-blower had said that some of the girls were thought to have been between 14-16. To this we say, what rot. Given that prostitution is illegal in Haiti — these were criminal offence regardless of anything else. And besides, aid workers have a duty to protect which is why Oxfam backed the UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee’s Task Force on Protection From Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Humanitarian Crises back in 2002. This effectively prohibits aid workers from buying sex. But above and beyond all this, these men were in positions of power in a nation that was heavily dependent on aid. In short, we have to bring to an end this insidious culture of the White Man’s unburdened entitlement. Naturally this doesn’t refer exclusively to white men; we are using this term generically. And inherently linked to this is the ongoing prioritising of the brand image over those whom have been violated. It has been said that the charity had wanted to keep things under wraps as it was worried that the scandal would jeopardise funding that totals some £300 million per annum; a combination of government coffers and public donations. Yet the attempted cover-up has done untold damage to the reputation of Britain’s fifth largest charity that has been helping the needy since 1942. What needs to happen now is for heads to roll. For it is unacceptable, for example, that the then mission head was allowed to resign — complete with one month’s notice — in exchange for assisting the internal probe. Even more so is the fact that he went on to come country director of a Bangladesh-based aid organisation. We have to do away with such impunity across the board. And this means setting important precedents, starting with the UN. For its peacekeepers have long been known to conduct ‘rape-for-food’ initiatives; from Liberia to Kosovo to the Congo and, yes, Haiti. We think Tory MP Liz Truss said it best when she tweeted: “Halting sexual violence including trafficking and prostitution of women in war and disaster zones is not an optional extra once bosses have had their fun. Shame on you Oxfam”. Thus we’ll let her have the last word. * Published in Daily Times, February 11th 2018.