Oxfam has today published its 2011 internal investigation report into allegations of sexual misconduct and other inappropriate behaviour in Haiti.
A leaked version of the report was the centre of The Times’ news story on 9 February, which sparked the ongoing media frenzy surrounding the charity.
The report confirms that four Oxfam employees were dismissed and three resigned following accusations including using prostitutes on the charity’s property, sexual exploitation of employees, fraud, negligence and nepotism.
It reveals that three of the workers accused of sexual misconduct physically threatened witnesses during the investigation.
The report says allegations of use of under-age prostitutes were not substantiated during the investigation but says “it cannot be ruled out that any of the prostitutes were under-aged”.
'We want to be as transparent as posssible'
The charity said in a statement: “We are making this exceptional publication because we want to be as transparent as possible about the decisions we made during this particular investigation and in recognition of the breach of trust that has been caused.
“We are also meeting with the government of Haiti to apologise for our mistakes and discuss what more we can do, including for the women affected by these events. We hope this also contributes to rebuilding trust with those who support our work.
“However difficult it is to meet the demands of transparency, and however hard it is to confront mistakes of the past, we believe that ultimately, this will help us take meaningful action and become more effective in our mission to tackle poverty and help people hit by disaster.”
Oxfam said that it has shared un-redacted version of the report with the Haitian Ambassador in London and will give a copy to the Haitian government in a meeting this morning.
“We have informed the relevant national authorities of the names of the seven men involved in sexual misconduct,” it added.
'People are gunning for Oxfam'
Elsewhere, Mark Goldring, Oxfam's chief executive, said in a interview with the Guardian, published on Saturday, that: "People are gunning for Oxfam."
He also told the paper that: "The last six days have been the most intense and challenging of my life."
He also suggested that appearing on radio and television had made things worse.
“Anything we say is being manipulated: ‘Oxfam’s still making excuses, still trying to justify itself.’ I went on the Today programme on the first day and tried to explain and it totally failed. All it did was fuel the fire,” he told the newspaper, and added: "What I felt really clearly is many people haven’t wanted to listen to explanations."
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