Shifting the focus: Applying the survivor-centred approach to PSEA in the aid sector

Sexual exploitation and abuse by humanitarian actors is among the most egregious failures of accountability in the aid sector. From the sex for food scandal in West Africa in 2002 to the scandal in Oxfam in Haiti that launched the #aidtoo movement to the World Health Organization scandal unfolding during the Ebola crisis, the way that aid organizations have chosen to respond to this form of gender-based violence (GBV) have emerged from compliance processes usually developed with the needs of the organization - rather than the perspective of the survivor - as a starting point.
The time has come to shift focus away from focusing solely on institutional compliance towards the well-being and rights of individual survivors in a holistic and person-centered way. The survivor-centered approach is an important aspect of any GBV response yet is often misunderstood in SEA work and clashes with mandatory reporting and “zero-tolerance” policies.
Join the GBV AOR Community of Practice for a discussion with the authors of CHS Alliance’s foundational paper, Victim/Survivor-Centred Approach to Protection from Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment In the Aid Sector. The authors, Lucy Heaven Taylor and Martina Brostrom will present the recommendations from the paper. This will be followed by commentary from GBV Community of Practice members, Eric Dentor of UNICEF and Janeffer N'dungu, International Medical Corps with extensive experience on GBV who have also worked on PSEA.