Organisations in the humanitarian and development aid sector have reached a partnership with INTERPOL in an attempt to deal with perpetrators of sexual exploitation, harassment and abuse who work for them.
“Project Soteria” aims to bring law enforcement and aid sector organisations together to prevent sexual offenders from using their positions to access and offend against children and vulnerable adults, and to strengthen the capacity of law enforcement agencies to investigate, prosecute and arrest those who abuse aid recipients.
The project will be rolling out workshops to train child protection and sexual or gender-based violence investigators in East Africa and South Asia to use INTERPOL capabilities and other tools to target offenders. In-country activities will also be launched including a first ever joint law enforcement and aid sector workshop and a two-day training course for aid sector employees, volunteers and interns on what constitutes sexual exploitation, harassment and abuse, and how to respond to it.
The project has an advisory board of representatives from civil society and the support of many prominent aid organisations, including Oxfam, Save the Children and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
