UK minister confronted by activist at NGO sex scandal summit
The humanitarian sector has been rocked by a series of sexual abuse scandals in the past decade
Britain's international development secretary Penny Mordaunt was heckled by an activist on Thursday as she unveiled measures to tackle the sexual exploitation scandal in the aid sector. Hosting a "safeguarding summit" in London, Mordaunt was interrupted on stage by Alexia Pepper de Caires — a former whistleblower from Save the Children — who delivered a stinging rebuke of the gathering and the minister's reform proposals. The humanitarian sector has been rocked by a series of sexual abuse scandals in the past decade that has included some of the biggest names in the field, such as the UN and Oxfam. Mordaunt was 10 minutes into a keynote speech announcing a new online platform with Interpol to help identify suspected sexual abusers working for nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) when she was interrupted. "We do not need fancy new systems, we do not need technology — we need systematic change," De Caires said, to applause from attendees. The activist added she was "disgusted" that Sa...
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