Report Finds W.H.O. Workers Sexually Exploited Women During Ebola Mission

Women were sexually exploited and abused by aid workers in order to obtain or keep jobs during the Ebola Crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A young girl washes her hands at a checkpoint at the border between Uganda and the DRC. UK Department for International Development. CC BY 2.0

According to a report commissioned by the agency’s head, World Health Organization workers sexually abused women while in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to aid the Ebola outbreak from 2018 to 2020. The report found that 83 people participated in the abuse, and in 21 cases, those involved were confirmed to be WHO officials. The investigation started in September 2020 when The New Humanitarian and the Thomas Reuters Foundation published a report investigating abuse claims. The report found that 31 out of 50 women interviewed reported abuse and exploitation from men working for the WHO. In response, leadership in the World Health Organization ordered an independent commission to investigate. After working in Beni, one woman interviewed by the commission stated, “To get ahead in the job, you had to have sex … Everyone had sex in exchange for something. It was very common.” In addition, women reported that they were sexually harrassed and faced exploitation in order to keep their jobs, get paid or get a promotion. In some cases women were dismissed from their jobs when they refused to have sex with supervisors.

The commission established that the majority of the victims were already vulnerable because of precarious social and economic status, and women with more education and economic power were less vulnerable to abuse. The report found that there was a “systematic tendency to reject all reports of sexual exploitation and abuse unless they were made in writing”. While the WHO has training in place to prevent sexual abuse, the report found that training for employees did not happen until November 2019, months after the outbreak had been declared an emergency. Only 371 out of 2,800 workers attended the training. Additionally, men make up the vast majority of employees during the crisis, averaging 73.4% overall. The report cites that men held 77.49% of leadership positions and 91.52% of operations support and logistic positions.

The WHO was not the only organization accused of abuse, The New Humanitarian’s investigation found that there were allegations against workers at World Vision, Unicef and Alima, among others. Additionally, the investigation found that underreporting was prevalent in these cases, with one woman stating, “Why would you even ask if I reported it?” The New Humanitarian found that many women were unaware of how to report abuse or exploitation at all. Most aid agencies claimed they had received no reports of abuse, and the WHO stated they had received only a small number of complaints. ​​Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the WHO, apologized to victims and said it was his top priority to hold perpetrators accountable during a press conference after the report’s publication.

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Dana Flynn

Dana is a recent graduate from Tufts University with a degree in English. While at Tufts she enjoyed working on a campus literary magazine and reading as much as possible. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she loves to explore and learn new things.

Russia’s #MeToo Movement Means Not Being Afraid to Speak

The #MeToo Movement has been one of the largest and fastest-growing movements of the past decade and it is not confined to the United States. Its origin was in 2006 on Myspace when Tarana Burke coined the term “MeToo” to speak out against sexual abuse that she experienced. It only gained widespread popularity in October 2017 when actress Alyssa Milano decided to post to Twitter asking survivors to tweet in solidarity using #MeToo if they had experienced any form of sexual harassment. The response was enormous and those who abuse women and men are being called out online today.

A lesser-known movement in Russia and Ukraine began in 2016, a year before Milano’s tweet. #IAmNotAfraidToSpeak was started by Ukrainian activist Anastasia Melnichenko, who in a Facebook post wrote, “I want us — women — to speak today ...We do not have to make excuses. We are not to blame. Blame always lies with the rapist.” Many women did come forward on that day and continue to speak out. Despite the fact that the hashtags have changed somewhat, women are still asking for attention from the world in the same way as in the United States. On July 16, 2019, #INeedOpenness and #IDidn’tWantToDie were trending in another attempt to challenge the norm of sexual harassment, domestic abuse and rape in Russia. 

This month, bereft of a hashtag, another wave of allegations have flooded Twitter including accusations of sexual harassment surrounding many prominent men within Moscow’s media circle. One of the men accused, Sergey Prostakov, is a journalist and editor of opposition website MBKh Media. Following the allegations, Prostakov promptly resigned and issued an apology. Another liberal, veteran journalist Pavel Lobkov, was called out for inappropriate advances toward men. His response was that he grew up in an era where “students were sleeping with their teachers, and hugging or even kissing a colleague at a party was completely normal.” 

Valya Dekhtyarenko was the woman who retweeted her friend’s testimony about her abusive relationship and therefore began the series of women naming their abusers. She criticized the hypocrisy of the same “progressive media who have been disclosing sexual harassers amongst Russia's ruling elites" now being outed as abusers. Similarly as in the United States, there are those who believe that sexual violence against women is not a problem. And in Russia people still use the old proverb “if he beats you, it means he loves you.” The discourse is slowly shifting and those in power are seeing the consequences of their actions. It is still unclear, however, whether the movement has fully formed into what has been seen in the United States.

Hanna Ditinsky

is a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is majoring in English and minoring in Economics. She was born and raised in New York City and is passionate about human rights and the future of progressivism

Fight for Civil Liberties Doesn't Stop for a Pandemic in Chile

Despite unrest in Chile, feminist group Las Tesis continues to advocate for justice against police brutality and sexual violence toward women in Latin America.

Translation: “Systemic violence is the worst crime.” John Englart. CC BY-SA 2.0

Last year, Chilean feminist group Las Tesis released “Un Violador en Tu Camino” (“A Rapist in Your Path”), a song that became an anthem against sexual violence worldwide. The piece, which calls out the judicial system and the struggle of women across Latin America, has been performed all around the world in the form of flash mobs. Many who participate wear black blindfolds and green scarves to advocate for legal abortion practices as well.

The song first was created in light of the social inequality protests occurring in Chile in November 2019. The lyrics call out the unfair treatment of the Chilean government toward women. It says that a narrative is being written where women are to blame for sexual violence. Yet, the song places blame on the patriarchy, police and government systems for being blind to this ongoing violence.

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Chile is considered one of the world’s most unequal countries and is susceptible to climate change. Chile is also considered to have one of the highest costs of living across South America. While the rich prosper from their investments in terms of development, the poor communities and Indigenous people suffer at the hands of urbanization.

Feminist sign in Chile which translates to “the feminist struggle is also against neoliberalism.” John Englart. CC BY-SA 2.0.

Many Chileans consider themselves “at war against a powerful enemy.” Rather than succumbing to the protesters’ demands, President Pinera declared a state of emergency that involved the deployment of the military to control crowds and the institution of a curfew. These measures have caused a sharp decline in protests like Las Tesis’.

International attention has focused on the treatment of protesters, with allegations of human rights violations. For instance, there have been claims that protesters may have been tortured, resulting in at least 19 deaths and 20 people being reported missing. Additionally, there has been a 15% increase in sexual violence reports since last year.

However, on June 12, the police filed a lawsuit against Las Tesis. In the lawsuit, police claim that the feminist group encourages violence against officers of Chile’s national police force, Carabineros de Chile. Charges came after the release of “Manifesto Against Police Violence,” a video produced alongside Russia’s Pussy Riot where protesters stood outside of a police station and demanded to “fire the police.” Chilean police took the video as threats against officers, but no papers have been officially served yet to the feminist group.

Daffne Valdes, one of the founders of Las Tesis, said in an interview with Al-Jazeera that “this is an attack on freedom of expression,” calling it a form of censorship. Even though in both the song and video by Las Tesis the police are called out as “rapists,” group members say they are simply referring to the corruption seen throughout Chile’s police system.

Eva Ashbaugh

is a Political Science and Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies double major at the University of Pittsburgh. As a political science major concentrating on International Relations, she is passionate about human rights, foreign policy, and fighting for equality. She hopes to one day travel and help educate people to make the world a better place.

Outrage Mounts as Colombian Soldiers Admit to Rape of an Indigenous Girl

On June 25, seven soldiers of the Colombian army confessed to raping a 13-year-old Indigenous girl from the Embera tribe. She was discovered at a nearby school after having gone missing from her home in the department of Risaralda on June 21. Upon seeing that the young girl could barely walk, she was sent to a hospital and then forensic services along with receiving assistance from the Organization of Indigenous Nations of Colombia (ONIC). Luis Fernando Arias, senior adviser for ONIC, told CNN that the girl “was kidnapped and raped for a period of 17 hours.” The Embera community requested that the soldiers be tried under their own laws along with ONIC “demanding that they be tried under Indigenous law, arguing that it's their jurisdiction since the alleged crime was against an Indigenous person, on Indigenous land.” 

Since the alleged rape, the seven men accused were fired along with three of their superiors. The country’s attorney general, Francisco Barbosa, stated that if found guilty the men could face 16 to 30 years in prison, but Colombian President Ivan Duque urged a life sentence for the accused soldiers. He stated that, “If we have to inaugurate the life in prison penalty with them, we're going to do it with them. And we are going to use it so that these bandits and scoundrels get a lesson.” Although many are asking for the imprisonment of the soldiers, Gimena Sanchez, Andes director of the think tank Washington Office on Latin America, believes that, “There needs to be education and consciousness raising within the armed forces on how to treat and how to engage with ethnic minorities. Not just with Indigenous but also Afro-Colombians.” 

The country’s response was that of fury, albeit bereft of shock due to the long-standing systemic issue of soldiers' abuse and violence against Indigenous women and girls in Colombia. On July 2, after pressure mounted and Indigenous groups held protests against the gender-based violence of Indigenous women, Colombian Army Commander General Eduardo Zapateiro publicly disclosed that 118 soldiers had been investigated due to incidents of sexual violence against minors since 2016, and of those only 45 have been fired. Despite these statistics, Zapateiro stated that, “These abuses are not systemic conduct. Understand that we are 241,000 men, who every day give everything for the Colombian people.” His argument is that this is not a systemic issue but since the reporting of this story, other cases of sexual violence against Indigenous girls have emerged. One case that was not widely reported until now reveals that a 15-year-old girl from the Nukak Maku Indigenous tribe was kidnapped, tortured and raped in the military barracks of troops in the southern Guaviare department. 

Colombia is not exempt from the pandemic of sexual violence that affects women all over the globe but following a vote against a peace referendum to end the conflict in Colombia, women are disproportionately enduring violence on a systemic level. Colombia has the 10th highest rate of femicide in the world, according to U.N. data. The Colombian Femicide Foundation documented that “8,532 women and girls reported that they had experienced sexual violence in the first five months of this year. More than 5,800 were under the age of 18.” The outcome of this case may bring hope to those who want to see justice in the form of imprisonment, but the culture that normalized violence toward women remains. 

Hanna Ditinsky

is a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is majoring in English and minoring in Economics. She was born and raised in New York City and is passionate about human rights and the future of progressivism.

Nigerian Women Protest Over Police Brutality and Abuse of Women

In light of the U.S.’s Black Lives Matter movement, women in Nigeria have begun their own protests online following the abuse and death of three women.

Since April 2020, Nigeria has seen an extreme increase of sexual violence and police brutality. However, attention was gained on the issue after the death of three women. In April, an 18-year-old woman known as “Jennifer” was gang raped by up to five men. Toward the end of May, 22-year-old Vera Uwaila “Uwa” Omozuma was also sexually assaulted and killed. Around the same time, 17-year-old Tina Ezekwe died after police opened fire on her as she sat at a bus station during a curfew established due to COVID-19.

Unfortunately, the main reason why arrests in Uwa and Jennifer’s cases were made in the first place was due to public outcry, especially from family members of the victims. There was a great fear that those at fault may never be held accountable and that families would never get justice for the wrongful deaths of their loved ones. #JusticeForUwa, #JusticeForTina and #JusticeForJennifer have been used in campaigns across Nigeria, all inspired by  Black Lives Matter protests over the past week in the U.S. For Jennifer’s family, it also took the release of a video of her family trying to comfort her to trigger national response.

Arrests, not all, have been made for the death and sexual assaults of Uwa and Jennifer. On the other hand, police who were found guilty for killing Tina have been dismissed by the police department of Lagos but still must face internal disciplinary actions upon further investigation. The regional governor of southern Edo, home of Uwa, also pledged to investigate her case to bring all those to justice.

Photo of Vera Uwaila “Uwa” Omozuma. CNN. CC 2.0

However, many across the country are also fearful of the increase of rapes due to many individuals across the region being displaced. Nigeria has a long history of violence between tribes which makes women feel more vulnerable. Those who are supposed to be watching over the refugee camps have been held responsible for raping girls as young as 9. Being displaced has also caused a phenomenon where families are selling their young daughters for marriage in exchange for money.

In 2014, a survey found that one in four Nigerian women experienced sexual violence. 70% of women even experienced multiple incidents of abuse yet only 5% reported the crimes. Many have linked President Muhammadu Buhari to U.S. President Donald Trump due to the lack of national support and resources readily available to survivors. Most women cannot even receive treatment without filing a police report first. Just as with the assaults in refugee camps, it has caused hesitation in women for filing reports

The internet has become the main outlet for these protests unlike what has been seen in the U.S. Protesting on the street is highly discouraged as protesters could be punished for their actions. Thus, having access to the internet has been able to highlight the injustices of the police in Nigeria. Currently, the #WeAreTired campaign is aimed at not only raising awareness of violence against women in Nigeria, but the overall dissatisifcation with the government in its lack of action.

Just as in the U.S., this has been an ongoing struggle for many Nigerians that has lasted for generations. Since 2015, there has been demand to pass the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act nationwide which would better define rape in court cases. It is hoped that through these hashtags, people can use their voices effectively and help amplify the message of reform in Nigeria.

Eva Ashbaugh

is a Political Science and Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies double major at the University of Pittsburgh. As a political science major concentrating on International Relations, she is passionate about human rights, foreign policy, and fighting for equality. She hopes to one day travel and help educate people to make the world a better place.

The Chilean Roots of a Global Anti-Gender-Based Violence Movement

On the 2019 International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, over 10,000 women gathered outside Chile’s Santiago National Stadium, a former detention and torture center from Chile’s military dictatorship. “Patriarchy is our judge/That imprisons us at birth/And our punishment/Is the violence you DON’T see” the group chanted, their clothes and bodies marked with anti-violence slogans. “It's femicide!” they shouted into the frigid air. “It's not my fault, not where I was, not how I dressed!” They placed their hands behind their heads, then squatted up and down, mimicking the movements that Chilean police officials and prison wardens force females to perform while naked. 

This is the movement that has globally spread, dismantling the structural forms of gender violence set in place by police and judiciary systems. The protests feature the Chilean song “Un Violador en Tu Camino,” or “A Rapist in Your Path.” Created by the Valparaíso feminist collective Las Tesis, it challenges the gender violence so prominently institutionalized by political structures. Las Tesis works closely with various activists and scholars to demystify rape as an act of pleasure. Specifically, “Un Violador en Tu Camino” is based on the work of Argentine-Brazilian anthropologist Rita Segato, one of Latin America’s most celebrated anthropologists of gender violence. Las Tesis also investigates the sexual violence, homicide and rapes within Chile that are left unaddressed in the criminal justice system. 

The song was first publicly performed in front of a Valparaíso police station. As the initial protest, women merely sought to impose small-scale street interventions. However, as the visceral lyrics moved through global media, they inspired similar demonstrations throughout Latin America and beyond. 

Thousands of women performed the piece at the Zócalo, Mexico City’s main square, on November 29, 2019, roughly a week after the Valparaíso protest. Since then, Las Tesis’ song has spurred movements in Latin American countries such as Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and Argentina, and has even spread to global protests in London, Berlin, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Tel Aviv, New Delhi, Tokyo, Beirut, Istanbul and New York City.  

Each protest site transforms the musical base, adapting the movements and song to their national identity. Within Latin America, green scarves represent the campaign for legal abortion. Black blindfolds acknowledge the ways that women are made vulnerable by Chilean police. Brazilian activists add the lyrics, “Marielle is present. Her killer is a friend of our president.” They reference Marielle Franco, an assassinated city council member from Rio de Janeiro. An ongoing investigation will determine if Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was involved in her killing.

 “It’s the cops. It’s the judges. It’s the system. It’s the president. The rapist is you.” This phrase has been chanted around the world, demanding rectification for years of human rights violations. As female protesters gather in urban areas and repeat these words, they point— physically and metaphorically—to the courthouses, police headquarters, and presidential palaces that have systematically dehumanized women, promoting gender violence and oppression. Media, movement and song give women the platform to insert their collective power and instill political change. 

Anna Wood

is an Anthropology major and Global Health/Spanish double minor at Middlebury College. As an anthropology major with a focus in public health, she studies the intersection of health and sociocultural elements. She is also passionate about food systems and endurance sports.

How Toys Became Gendered – and Why It’ll Take More Than a Gender-Neutral Doll to Change How Boys Perceive Femininity

Parents who want to raise their children in a gender-nonconforming way have a new stocking stuffer this year: the gender-neutral doll.

Announced in September, Mattel’s new line of gender-neutral humanoid dolls don’t clearly identify as either a boy or a girl. The dolls come with a variety of wardrobe options and can be dressed in varying lengths of hair and clothing styles.

But can a doll – or the growing list of other gender-neutral toys – really change the way we think about gender?

Mattel says it’s responding to research that shows “kids don’t want their toys dictated by gender norms.” Given the results of a recent study reporting that 24% of U.S. adolescents have a nontraditional sexual orientation or gender identity, such as bisexual or nonbinary, the decision makes business sense.

As a developmental psychologist who researches gender and sexual socialization, I can tell you that it also makes scientific sense. Gender is an identity and is not based on someone’s biological sex. That’s why I believe it’s great news that some dolls will better reflect how children see themselves.

Unfortunately, a doll alone is not going to overturn decades of socialization that have led us to believe that boys wear blue, have short hair and play with trucks; whereas girls like pink, grow their hair long and play with dolls. More to the point, it’s not going to change how boys are taught that masculinity is good and femininity is something less – a view that my research shows is associated with sexual violence.

Girl toys tend to be pink. AP Photo/Nick Ut

Pink girls and blue boys

The kinds of toys American children play with tend to adhere to a clear gender binary.

Toys marketed to boys tend to be more aggressive and involve action and excitement. Girl toys, on the other hand, are usually pink and passive, emphasizing beauty and nurturing.

It wasn’t always like this.

Around the turn of the 20th century, toys were rarely marketed to different genders. By the 1940s, manufacturers quickly caught on to the idea that wealthier families would buy an entire new set of clothing, toys and other gadgets if the products were marketed differently for both genders. And so the idea of pink for girls and blue for boys was born.

Today, gendered toy marketing in the U.S. is stark. Walk down any toy aisle and you can clearly see who the audience is. The girl aisle is almost exclusively pink, showcasing mostly Barbie dolls and princesses. The boy aisle is mostly blue and features trucks and superheroes.

Breaking down the binary

The emergence of a gender-neutral doll is a sign of how this binary of boys and girls is beginning to break down – at least when it comes to girls.

A 2017 study showed that more than three-quarters of those surveyed said it was a good thing for parents to encourage young girls to play with toys or do activities “associated with the opposite gender.” The share rises to 80% for women and millennials.

But when it came to boys, support dropped significantly, with 64% overall – and far fewer men – saying it was good to encourage them to do things associated with girls. Those who were older or more conservative were even more likely to think it wasn’t a good idea.

Reading between the lines suggests there’s a view that traits stereotypically associated with men – such as strength, courage and leadership – are good, whereas those tied to femininity – such as vulnerability, emotion and caring – are bad. Thus boys receive the message that wanting to look up to girls is not OK.

And many boys are taught over and over throughout their lives that exhibiting “female traits” is wrong and means they aren’t “real men.” Worse, they’re frequently punished for it – while exhibiting masculine traits like aggression are often rewarded.

Breaking down gender norms – for girls

A 2017 survey shows a greater share of adults think it's okay for girls to do "boy things" than for boys to do "girl things."

How this affects sexual expectations

This gender socialization continues into emerging adulthood and affects men’s romantic and sexual expectations.

For example, a 2015 study I conducted with three co-authors explored how participants felt their gender affected their sexual experiences. Roughly 45% of women said they expected to experience some kind of sexual violence just because they are women; whereas none of the men reported a fear of sexual violence and 35% said their manhood meant they should expect pleasure.

And these findings can be linked back to the kinds of toys we play with. Girls are taught to be passive and strive for beauty by playing with princesses and putting on makeup. Boys are encouraged to be more active or even aggressive with trucks, toys guns and action figures; building, fighting and even dominating are emphasized. A recent analysis of Lego sets demonstrates this dichotomy in what they emphasize for boys – building expertise and skilled professions – compared with girls – caring for others, socializing and being pretty. Thus, girls spend their childhoods practicing how to be pretty and care for another person, while boys practice getting what they want.

This results in a sexual double standard in which men are the powerful actors and women are subordinate. And even in cases of sexual assault, research has shown people will put more blame on a female rape victim if she does something that violates a traditional gender role, such as cheating on her husband – which is more accepted for men than for women.

A 2016 study found that adolescent men who subscribe to traditional masculine gender norms are more likely to engage in dating violence, such as sexual assault, physical or emotional abuse and stalking.

Mattel’s new line of dolls come with clothes for all genders. Mattel

Teaching gender tolerance

Mattel’s gender-neutral dolls offer much-needed variety in kids’ toys, but children – as well as adults – also need to learn more tolerance of how others express gender differently than they do. And boys in particular need support in appreciating and practicing more traditional feminine traits, like communicating emotion or caring for someone else – skills that are required for any healthy relationship.

Gender neutrality represents the absence of gender – not the tolerance of different gender expression. If we emphasize only the former, I believe femininity and the people who express it will remain devalued.

So consider doing something gender-nonconforming with your children’s existing dolls, such as having Barbie win a wrestling championship or giving Ken a tutu. And encourage the boys in your life to play with them too.

Megan K. Maas is a Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, Michigan State University

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