The World Health Organization (WHO) has pledged to investigate allegations that aid workers tackling the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo sexually abused and exploited women.
WHO and other aid agency staff were accused by 50 women in a joint investigation by two news agencies.
Local women were allegedly plied with drinks, “ambushed” in hospitals, forced to have sex, and two became pregnant with allegations covering the period between 2018 and March 2020.
In a statement, the WHO said it is “outraged” and promised the charges will be “rigorously investigated.”
“Anyone identified as being involved will be held to account and face serious consequences, including immediate dismissal.
“The betrayal of people in the communities we serve is reprehensible.”
The WHO was in charge of efforts to control an Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC between August 2018 and the end of June this year. During that time, 3,481 people were infected and 2,299 people died.
The UN and aid agencies have previously promised zero tolerance of sexual abuse following similar allegations against some of their staff in other countries.
A spokesperson for the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it would scrutinise the WHO findings closely, adding: “Sexual exploitation and abuse are completely abhorrent. We regularly assess all of our partners against the highest safeguarding standards.”
Most of the allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation were against men, including doctors, from WHO. In investigations by The New Humanitarian in conjunction with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, at least 30 women have made allegations against them.
The next highest number of allegations – made by eight women – were against men said to be from DR Congo’s health ministry.
Two other UN agencies, and four international charities, were also named in the report.
Some of the accused men came from Belgium, Burkina Faso, Canada, France, Guinea-Conakry and Ivory Coast.
Many men refused to wear condoms, and at least two women said they became pregnant as a result of the abuse, the news agencies also reported.
A 25-year-old cleaner said she was invited to a WHO doctor’s home to discuss a promotion.
“He shut the door and told me: ‘There’s a condition. We need to have sex right now’,” the woman said.
“He started to take my clothes off me. I stepped back but he forced himself against me and kept pulling off my clothes. I started crying and told him to stop… He didn’t stop. So I opened the door and ran out.”
In another case, a 32-year-old Ebola survivor told the news agencies that she was invited to a hotel for counselling.
In the lobby, she was offered a soft drink. She said she woke up hours later, naked and alone in a hotel room, and believes she was raped.
Many women said they were forced to have sex in exchange for jobs, with one describing it as a “passport to employment” and another said “they hire you with eyeballs”.
Women said they were approached outside supermarkets in the eastern city of Beni, job recruitment centres, and hospitals where lists of successful candidates were posted.
