Taking a victim/survivor-centred approach to protection from sexual abuse, exploitation and harassment in the aid sector

Sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (SEAH) are among the most egregious failures of accountability in the aid sector. Current measures have emerged from compliance processes often developed with the needs of the organisation – rather than the perspective of the victim/survivor – as a starting point.

The time has come to shift focus away from focusing solely on institutional compliance towards the well-being and rights of individual victims/survivors in a holistic and person-centred way.

CHS Alliance has produced a foundational paper which considers what a Victim/Survivor-Centred Framework for addressing protection from, and responses to, SEAH might look like in a humanitarian or development organisation, and how it can be operationalised by aid actors.

The paper maps the journey of a victim/survivor from violation to redress, exploring the challenges, existing best practice, and what a victim/survivor-centred approach could look like at each stage.

In it we articulate and visualise how a victim/survivor-centred approach can be delivered by humanitarian and development actors.

This paper is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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