British charity Oxfam was on Tuesday slammed with claims of sexual assault and cover-up in South Sudan, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) has reported.
The claim follows Oxfam’s deputy chief Penny Lawrence resignation on Monday after numerous sexual accusations against the charity’s staff in Haiti and Chad.
Helen Evans, a former global head of safeguarding at Oxfam was quoted as saying that a survey she conducted between 2012-2015 in Oxfam’s offices across three countries; 11 and 14% said they witnessed or experienced sexual assault, while 7% of staff in South Sudan witnessed or experienced rape or attempted rape involving colleagues.
Evans said she received three new allegations in a single day in February 2015, including one woman forced to have sex for aid. But she said her report findings were never taken seriously by the senior leadership at Oxfam.
In Haiti, the international charity is battling accusations over the use of prostitutes by staff members in Haiti.
Oxfam International's chairman Juan Alberto Fuentes Knight has also been arrested in Guatemala over corruption allegations, while Actress Minnie Driver, Oxfam ambassador stepped down from her role late Tuesday.