13:30 CET (Warsaw/Budapest)
Workplace administrative investigations of allegations of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) and other abuses are a common tool in safeguarding response. The United Nations and international non-governmental organisations use common principles and standards to conduct administrative investigations of SEA and other safeguarding concerns.
The Safeguarding Resource and Support Hub Eastern Europe (RSH EE) invited the authors of the CHS Alliance’s foundational paper “Victim/survivor-centred approach to protection from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment in the aid sector” for a discussion and presentation on workplace administrative investigations and the importance of making them victim/survivor centred.
This presentation provided an easy-to-understand explanation of what steps are required for administrative investigations including understanding the evidence threshold “balance of probability” and what happens after the investigation is over. Basic concept and terms around safeguarding investigations were introduced, including the principles of fairness and the right to procedural fairness, also known as due-process rights. Participants were encouraged to ask questions to demystify the process of investigations including how to adapt them to their own contexts.
The presentation also discussed ways to make investigations more survivor centred to help prevent any further harm coming to victims/survivors and support their participation in investigations.
Please be advised that Martina Broström spoke about Sexual Violence that she had experienced, which some may find distressing.
The recording of the webinar is also available in Czech, Hungarian and Ukrainian.
Chair:
- Sarah Martin – Capacity Building Advisor, Safeguarding Hub Eastern Europe
Sarah Martin has over 25 years of experience in humanitarian response. She specialises in strengthening prevention and response to Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and addressing Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) in humanitarian and development settings. She has developed numerous strategies to address GBV and SEA for clients like the World Health Organization, the global GBV Area of Responsibility, United Nations Population Fund’s Whole of Syria Coordination Response to GBV and the Organization for Security Co-operation in Europe. She is a skilled trainer and has developed curricula to help interpreters reduce barriers to disclosure of GBV among other topics. She is the author of several papers and reports including: “Must Boys be Boys? Ending Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by UN Peacekeepers” and “‘Stranger Danger’ and the Gendered/Racialised Construction of Threats in Humanitarianism”. She is currently the Capacity Building Advisor for RSE EE.
Panellists:
- Lucy Heaven Taylor – Safeguarding and SEA Investigations Specialist
Lucy Heaven Taylor is a senior consultant with over 20 years’ experience of working on safeguarding and Protection from Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Sexual Harassment (PSEAH) in the humanitarian and development sector, having begun her career in the conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo. She provides advice on safeguarding and PSEAH to clients such as UN Women; Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO); Oxfam; Bond and CHS Alliance.
She is a member of FCDO’s Independent Reference Group on PSEAH, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Technical Experts Group on PSEAH and the UK Collaborative on Development Research (UKCDR) Safeguarding Expert Advisory Group. She is a regular contributor on discussion panels and in the media, and gave evidence to the UK Parliament International Development Committee Enquiry into Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in the Aid Sector.
- Martina Broström – Project Manager, CHS Alliance
Martina Broström is a senior development professional. She has more than 15 years of experience in the aid sector, developing policies and programmes, standards and building partnerships in support of global goals. She is a passionate advocate for equal rights and has courageously shed light on Sexual Abuse, sexism and gender inequality prevailing in the United Nation system. Her fight inspires reforms towards more victim/survivor-centred, trauma-informed approaches and greater institutional accountability in the aid sector. She is working with the CHS Alliance as a Project Manager to close the accountability gap to better protect victims/survivors of Sexual exploitation, Abuse and Sexual Harassment.
