The 2010 Haiti earthquake claimed the lives of around 230,000 people and affected three million total, leaving children and families helpless and starving. The organization Oxfam responded with numerous donations from people around the world to help this crisis. Other than the 2010 earthquake, Oxfam has helped with humanitarian crises all over the world. Their 19 independent organizations also give aid to impoverished countries. However, Oxfam has been caught in a scandal around the payment of prostitutes in Haiti during the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake. Former Oxfam country director of Haiti, Roland van Hauwermeiren, admitted to using Oxfam’s charitable funds for the payment of prostitutes.The scandal involved van Hauwermeiren and eight other senior employees. As a result, van Hauwermeiren, the eight other senior employees and Deputy Chief Executive, Penny Lawrence have resigned.
On top of this, Oxfam had attempted to cover up the scandal in 2011 after they conducted their own investigation into the matter. Oxfam also did not report any of these inappropriate behaviors to the Haitian police or international authorities. Executive Mark Goldfinch claims that he was concerned about the safety of Haitian girls so he did not consult local law enforcement. After Oxfam conducted their investigation, Oxfam changed its code of conduct to forbid employees from using prostitution and exploitation of women.
Outside parties eventually looked into the scandal and discovered disturbing information about the scandal. Numerous sources described the “sex parties” that took place in the men’s villa. One source described an event as a “full-on Caligula orgy” with girls wearing Oxfam shirts. Later, authorities discovered that some of these girls may have been underaged. Since the girls are looking for money to feed their families and themselves, many teenage girls resorted to prostitution and the exchange of money for sex.
Unfortunately, the scandal did not end in Haiti. In 2006, Oxfam employees engaged in similar behavior in Chad under country director of Chad, Roland van Hauwermeiren. However, van Hauwermeiren did not face any charges or discipline for his or his employees’ inappropriate behavior, and only one person was fired. Oxfam also kept this under the radar and moved van Hauwermeiren to Haiti, where the same scandal occurred.
Now, Oxfam faces punishment from the UK government for irresponsible and inappropriate use of charitable funds, which includes taxpayer money and individual donations from millions of people. So far, Oxfam has been barred from using government funds and public money until they meet the British government’s standards.
