Sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) and sexual harassment can occur when there are unequal and harmful cultural and social norms and an inequitable distribution of resources and power - factors that are present in many humanitarian contexts.
The IASC’s newly endorsed IASC Vision and Strategy: Protection from sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment (PSEAH) 2022−2026 commits to promoting lasting change in organizational culture, behaviour and attitudes towards all forms of sexual misconduct in humanitarian operations. It pledges to bolster country capacity for PSEA and ensure that victim- and survivor-centred approaches are at the core of humanitarian response.
Early action, focusing on prevention, helps to reduce the occurrence of SEA, ensuring that there is greater accountability from the outset of a response. When incidents do occur, early action also helps to ensure better support for the victims/survivors, complainants and whistle-blowers. For example, during the first days of the response in Ukraine in early 2022, the IASC called for the immediate deployment of capacity on the ground, recognizing that the risks of SEA were high and abuse was likely, even prior to any specific reports or complaints. A dedicated inter-agency PSEA Coordinator was deployed to assist the HC and the HCT. UNHCR mobilized dedicated capacity and deployed dedicated PSEA coordinators in the neighbouring countries for the refugee response.
PSEA coordinators help prevent, detect and respond to SEA at the country level. They help to implement a country action plan, which includes training humanitarian workers, conducting PSEA risk assessments and advocating for a victim-/survivor-centred approach.
Understanding community barriers to reporting SEA in Lebanon
In Lebanon, the PSEA Network conducted a community consultation to gain greater understanding of the barriers to reporting SEA. The community was asked if they could recognize SEA, if they felt it was reported, if they were aware of the available reporting channels and what their expectations were after reporting.
Findings indicate that only 28 per cent of respondents had someone explain to them what constitutes SEA. Women, girls and widows were the most at risk, and only 11 per cent felt that SEA was reported every time. Most preferred to report SEA directly in person; using a hotline was the second choice. The main barriers to reporting SEA were a perception of shame, a belief that the incident did not warrant reporting, doubt that perpetrators would be held accountable and fear of repercussion. The community consultation provided PSEA practitioners with insights to advocate for safer programming.
Embedding PSEA actions within humanitarian response in Burkina Faso
The Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) and the HRP undergo a quality review, with set standards and indictors that are applied consistently to ensure products and processes are relevant, credible and useful. These standards are not intended to critique or grade the work of country operations; they aim to serve as benchmarks upon which future progress can be measured, and to identify areas for improvement. To ensure fairness, the scoring team for each HPC country comprises three organizations: OCHA, a donor and a UN agency (non-OCHA).
Of the 17 indicators for HRPs, one is directly related to PSEA: “The HRP appropriately references how PSEA will be addressed.” Its presence helps to keep country teams accountable in terms of integrating PSEA through programming. In the case of Burkina Faso, the HRP scored 100 per cent across 11 indicators. They included the PSEA indicator and the indicator on whether the HRP prioritizes specific population groups for humanitarian response based on gender, age and displacement.
To embed PSEA in humanitarian response, it is not sufficient to mainstream it through the HRP. This also needs to be accompanied by longer-term vision and policies. For Burkina Faso, the UNCT-HCT PSEA Strategy 2021-2024 highlights the importance of PSEA mainstreaming into HNO/HRPs as a priority so that programmes/projects implemented are safe and appropriate for assisted communities. This was complemented by the PSEA Network in country, which held a one-day workshop with cluster coordinators to help them integrate appropriate safe programming and risk-mitigation activities into cluster strategies, response plans and partners’ projects.
Finally, mainstreaming PSEA has also been supported by appropriate resourcing:
- All of the Central Emergency Response Fund’s project budgets included funding for PSEA capacity-building and communications.
- The UNCT and HCT secured sufficient funds to conduct a training of trainers with the PSEA Network, who then trained more than 1,000 personnel from humanitarian organizations and implementing partners on PSEA guidelines and protocols, including survivor-centred assistance.
- Through the Regional Humanitarian Fund for West and Central Africa, 34 international and national NGO partners have integrated SEA risk-mitigation/response activities and budget lines.
Valere, Torbeck commune, Haiti.
The in-country PSEA manager, Lara, raises awareness of sexual abuse during a distribution of emergency supplies, including tarpaulins and essential hygiene kits.
UNICEF/Georges Harry RouzierStarting in early 2023, the IASC will develop a comprehensive inter-agency project to identify, hire, sustainably fund and deploy inter-agency PSEA coordinators across the 15 highest-priority contexts. These high-risk contexts are identified using the SEA Risk Overview, which pinpoints how the drivers of risks compare across countries, tracking changes over time. The tool uses 40 indicators to help identify high-risk contexts and inform partners where more training, capacity and resources are needed.
IASC members are dedicating capacity within their respective organizations to tackle PSEA, including in country programmes and by screening and vetting in employment, making pledges of commitment and ensuring that staff understand their PSEA responsibilities.
References
- For more information, see HPC 2022 – Quality review: approach and tools.