When The Times newspaper’s chief reporter, Sean O’Neill, broke the story that senior Oxfam aid workers had been accused of sexual misconduct while working in the disaster zone of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, it sent shockwaves around the charity sector and wider society. 

O’Neill reflects on his memories of the scandal; and experts including Chilande Kuloba-Warria and Martha Awojobi discuss how the very foundations of charity can create imbalances of power – and environments in which abuse can thrive. 

How do the ways we think about the “haves” and “have-nots” perpetuate these inequalities? And how have the historical roots of charitable work steered us in this direction? 

Kolbassia Haoussou, director of survivor leadership and influencing at Freedom from Torture, suggests how the balance can be tipped to allow the people that charities exist to serve to exercise power on their own terms. 

With commentary from the philanthropy expert Rhodri Davies.

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