New Sexual Assault Charges Further Tarnish the WHO’s Ebola Response in Congo

New Sexual Assault Charges Further Tarnish the WHO’s Ebola Response in Congo
Health workers tend to an Ebola victim kept in an isolation cube in Beni, Congo, July 13, 2019 (AP photo by Jerome Delay).

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Nearly two dozen women came forward this week to accuse aid workers of sexual exploitation and assault during the international response to the Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that began in 2018, even as evidence has emerged that World Health Organization officials may have ignored abuse allegations against two doctors employed by the agency.

The latest reports follow allegations late last year by more than 50 women of sexual abuse by men who said they worked for aid agencies. The women told reporters that the men, including employees of the WHO and the Congolese Health Ministry, offered them jobs in exchange for sex.

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