It began with Oxfam.
In February The Times reported that it had discovered that Oxfam had allowed three men to resign and had sacked four others for gross misconduct after an enquiry concerning sexual exploitation and bullying in Haiti, when the aid agency sent workers in following the devastating earthquake there in January 2010. As the press got to work, Save the Children, BBC Media Action, Christian Aid and many others were caught up in similar stories, including allegations that women in camps for Syrian refugees found themselves having to offer sexual favours in return for aid from the United Nations. The scandal has led to much national soul-searching.
Not everyone involved with relief organisations is in the work out of pure philanthropy. Perhaps the size of the pay packets of the chief executives of these charities, made public some years ago, should have alerted us.
The re-emergence of heavy shepherds
What would you think if you received a letter from your church leaders that read like this? ‘Are church members …