Doctors Without Borders staff ‘used local prostitutes’

By Muhammad Mussa

LONDON (AA) - Aid workers at Medecines Sans Frontieres (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, used local prostitutes while working in Africa, a former employee of the charity claimed according to the BBC.

Speaking to the BBC, the female ex-employee, who has remained anonymous, said the behavior was widespread and that senior colleagues would exchange medication for sex.

Under its strict code of conduct, the charity has banned the use of prostitutes and says that it does not “tolerate abuse, harassment or exploitation”.

The allegations were made against the staff of MSF and not doctors or nurses of the charity organization, which is one of the largest aid agencies in the world.

"The girls were very young and rumoured to be prostitutes" the women told BBC, and added it was "implicit" that they were there for sex.

“My colleague, who was staying in the same residence for a long time, felt that this was a regular occurrence”.

"I felt that, with some of the older guys, there was definitely an abuse of power. They'd been there for a long time and took advantage of their exalted status as a Western aid worker," she said.

"There's definitely a feeling that certain predatory men were seen as too big to fail,” she added.

MSF offered an apology, saying it was "sorry for any instances where people have been subjected to harassment, abuse or otherwise mistreated and/or felt that it was not adequately dealt with”.

Earlier this year it was revealed that staff at the charity Oxfam, hired prostitutes in Haiti and were found to have committed sexual abuse against female victims of the 2010 earthquake.