British charity Oxfam dismisses 22 staff over sexual abuse

Oxfam fires 22 of its staff over allegations of sexual abuse. (File photo)

Britain-based charity organization Oxfam says it has dismissed nearly two dozen staff members over allegations of sexual abuse in the last year.

The leading charity group sacked 22 members of its staff after dealing with 87 claims of sexual exploitation and abuse, involving around 5,000 workers in the one-year period ending April 2017, a 36 percent increase in one year.

Oxfam said that about three-quarters of the claims had culminated in disciplinary action, adding that it referred 53 claims to the police and conducted internal investigations for 33 claims.

“Oxfam treats all allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation very seriously,” it said in a statement, noting that data on allegations of sexual abuse by staff had been published in its annual reports.

The dismissals came as campaigners and rights activists called on world governments to take a closer look at the funding they provide to aid and charity groups.

Campaigners stress that many victims of sexual abuse and exploitation decline to report the incident due to fear, shame, and worry about damage to their career.

Reports of Oxfam staff’s inappropriate behavior emerged during media spotlight on the dozens of allegations of sexual abuse, harassment and discrimination from women at Westminster.

A list of 36 Conservative MPs' alleged sexual abuse and inappropriate behavior has been drawn up by staffers and leaked.

The UK has been struggling to deal with a series of sexual abuse scandals that have raised doubts about how institutions, including the church, sports teams and the news media respond to those vulnerable to abuse.

A vast inquiry has been opened into child sexual abuse at a string of British institutions from the parliament to the state-funded BBC as well as children's homes and churches.

The number of abuse allegations being made in the UK has spiked since one of the BBC's top presenters, Jimmy Savile, was exposed as a serial paedophile after his death in 2011.

According to a report last year by the royal Inspectorate of Constabulary, hundreds of British police officers and security forces have used their power to sexually abuse vulnerable people.

Last week, a BBC survey found out that half of British women and a fifth of men have been sexually harassed at work or a place of study.

A child sex abuse scandal in youth football clubs also rocked the country late last year, after about 350 former youth football players came forward in November to report abuse by coaches in Britain.