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Aid workers ‘demand sex for food’ in Mozambique’s refugee camps [1]
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Date: 2023-10
Macia* was 13 years old when she arrived, already pregnant, at a camp for internally displaced people in Cabo Delgado province, northern Mozambique, in May 2020.
Like thousands of others, she had escaped the conflict that has been raging in the province since 2018, mainly fought between militant Islamist fighters (known locally as Al-Shabaab) and Mozambican security forces. The Islamists burnt down her home, beheaded her father and brothers, and raped her.
But now, Macia alleges that while she’s been in the camp, she’s been forced to exchange sex for food aid from local relief workers. “I have been sleeping with several men since 2020 in order to feed myself and my toddler,” she told openDemocracy.
Macia, now 16, is pregnant again and said that “to feed the cravings of this pregnancy, I have succumbed to the sexual demands of the powers that be”.
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Asked who was responsible for her second pregnancy, Macia said: “I am not sure. What I am sure about is that I am the mother and I am alone.”
There are close to 14,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the camp and they depend almost exclusively on humanitarian aid, particularly from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the local Islamic community and Caritas, a Catholic aid organisation.
openDemocracy travelled to Cabo Delgado to speak to several women who, like Macia, allege that the local relief workers responsible for distributing food have been demanding sex and money in return.
The relief workers are supposed to be hired by Mozambique’s government to distribute the aid provided by the WFP and others, but loopholes mean they are often appointed by community leaders. openDemocracy reached out to government officials but did not receive a response.
The leaders control who receives food aid, and often use this to their advantage.
“When I arrived [at the camp] after travelling for almost two weeks, I was weak and hungry. I was told that I did not qualify to be on the list to receive food aid,” Macia said, claiming a community leader told her that this was because she was a woman.
She said that one of the leaders advised her that, because “I was light-skinned with a good shape, he would help me get food – if I gave that beauty to him”.
The WFP told openDemocracy it has received reports of abuse since 2019. It “has not undertaken any investigations against local leaders”, according to the programme’s spokesperson, Denise Dalla Colletta.
Instead, Coletta explained, “WFP refers the victims to gender-based violence services, which include psychosocial support and legal assistance”. These organisations provide clarity on possible legal recourse.
Though survivors openDemocracy spoke to were too scared to name their abusers, one alleged relief worker was identified by multiple women.
“He terrorised us between 2020 and 2021. We were scared of him,” recalled Unna, one of the internally displaced women at the camp.
“He always came wearing an orange bib, driving a big car. He would give instructions to the workers on the ground. They would then distribute a few bags of food and tell us that the rest were for sale.”
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[1] Url:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/mozambique-sex-food-aid-displaced-camps-world-food-programme/
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