Further information and resources

Training

Victim-Centred Approach

Disability

LBGT+

Child Safeguarding

United Nations commitments and resources on tackling SEA and SH

The UN’s overarching webpage on Preventing Sexual Exploitation and Abuse has lots of information and resources on how the UN is tackling SEA across its operations. In particular information on: 

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee is the highest level humanitarian coordination forum within the UN and produces key standards and guidance and a dedicated webpage on preventing sexual exploitation and abuse in humanitarian operations (which the rest of the UN system also follows) including:

Information on how the UN tackles sexual harassment 

UN support for victims-survivors

Standards and guidance for Peacekeeping Operations

Commitments and guidance for International Financial Institutions (IFIs)

Guidance for Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), contractors and others

Information for donors

Vetting tools to prevent hiring/re-hiring of perpetrators

  • UN ClearCheck platform. This is a highly secure platform of an online database. It contains information on individuals who have committed SEAH to share with UN entities with the aim of preventing them from being reemployed within the UN. 
  • Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. This facilitates the sharing of misconduct data between employers. It complements police checks by identifying perpetrators who have had disciplinary processes against them or are involved in investigations, but who may not have committed crimes. 
  • Project Soteria. This project, managed by Interpol, helps prevent and detect cases of SEAH. Interpol’s global policing capabilities can be used by institutions through drawing on Interpol notices, databases and networks.

Data and reporting tools

  • UN public reporting mechanism on SEA allegations. This initiative shares UN system wide data on SEA allegations to promote transparency and accountability. 
  • CHS Harmonised framework for SEAH data collection and reporting. This is an international initiative for organisations to collect and report in a harmonised and systematic way, using the same sets of top line SEAH data to promote transparency and accountability, through better understanding of the issue through strong trend analysis. The pilot is focusing on NGOs and the private sector, but the UN and Member States are also involved and it could have wider applicability.
  • Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Risk Overview Index (SEARO). This is a resource to help identify high-risk contexts for SEA and support decision making, including relating to where to prioritise resources. It is a Composite Index that brings together indicators on a range of different factors that can influence the risk of SEA. 

Alignment of CAPSEAH to other standards

This initial mapping shows how CAPSEAH aligns to the following key standards and instruments to protect against SEA/SEAH. CAPSEAH does not replace the above documents. It synthesises and aligns to the key actions from them. The mapping will be reviewed and updated as CAPSEAH and other standards and instruments evolve.

Terms, Definitions and Abbreviations

Useful links: 

Commonly used terms and definitions in SEAH include:

Humanitarian, Development and Peace Work/Settings 

  • Humanitarian work delivers immediate lifesaving assistance to populations affected by crises such as conflicts, natural disasters, and other emergencies. E.g. delivering food, shelter, healthcare, and protection services to meet the urgent needs of affected populations and alleviate suffering. 
  • Development work, aid, assistance and cooperation seek to improve the longer-term welfare of lower income countries and address the underlying causes of poverty, inequality, and vulnerability. E.g. promoting economic growth, improving access to education and healthcare, strengthening governance and institutions, and fostering sustainable livelihoods. 
  • Peace work covers activities that aim to manage and resolve conflicts, protect civilians and help countries transition from conflict to sustainable peace. This includes peacekeeping (the deployment of multinational forces, typically under the mandate of the United Nations or regional organizations, to maintain or restore peace in conflict-affected areas) and peacebuilding (addressing the root causes of conflict and promoting sustainable peace by fostering reconciliation, social cohesion, and development). 

HDP nexus is a term used to capture interlinkages between humanitarian, development and peace actions, and attempts for these sectors to work together more effectively.

The Common Approach sets out key actions across five levels ranging from the global perspective down to the individual level: 

  • Individual – actions for all individuals involved in the delivery of aid or peacekeeping support. 
  • International – actions relevant for the overarching international architecture that underpins and coordinates efforts to protect against SEAH in the HDP sectors. There are a variety of ways in which the UN system, other multilaterals, national governments, civil society, and the private sector come together to discuss and work together on PSEAH, as well as schemes and resources for them to use.
  • National – PSEAH actions expected within countries. This includes expectations of national governments in their own countries, of troop-contributing countries, and countries that receive refugees. It also covers how governments and organisations should act in countries other than their own where HDP is delivered (e.g. donors/aid agencies). 
  • Organisation – actions to guide the wide range of organisations that may deliver or work in HDP settings, to improve consistency in approach by different types of organisations. Many actions are applicable to all organisations. But others may depend on factors such as the size of the organisation and the type activities being delivered. Actions specific to particular organisations are highlighted. Types of organisations include:
    • government departments or aid agencies;
    • multilaterals such as UN agencies, funds or programmes, multilateral financial institutions and development banks, and topic-specific (e.g. health) funds; 
    • international and national non-governmental organisations; 
    • other civil society/grassroots/community-based organisations; 
    • private sector organisations; and 
    • research organisations. 
  • Programme/Project – PSEAH actions that are needed to design and implement any programme, project or initiative in HDP settings. These actions will be applied proportionately depending on the scale and complexity of the programme and level of safeguarding risk involved.

SEAH stands for ‘sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment’. All three are unacceptable abuses of power. SEAH is rooted in power imbalances and often linked to inequality, notably gender inequality. Victim-survivors of SEAH usually have less power or are more marginalised than the perpetrators for various reasons. Women and girls are most often affected.

The individual terms within SEAH are commonly defined as: 

  • Sexual Exploitation (SE) - any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power or trust for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another. For example, coercing individuals into engaging in sexual activities in exchange for aid, services, employment opportunities, or other benefits. 
  • Sexual Abuse (SA) - the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions.​ This includes sexual assault, rape, molestation, and other forms of non-consensual sexual activity. 
  • Sexual Harassment (SH) - a range of unacceptable and unwelcome behaviours and practices of a sexual nature that may include, but are not limited to, sexual suggestions or demands, requests for ‘sexual favours’, sexual, verbal or physical conduct, or gestures that are or might reasonably be perceived as offensive or humiliating. This includes jokes, comments or messages of a sexual nature; suggestive looks, staring or leering; display of or circulation of pornographic material. It is sometimes used to describe behaviour in a work environment but can also occur in communities and public spaces.
  • Protection from SEAH (PSEAH) - to prevent and actively manage and mitigate the risk of SEAH and respond appropriately when it occurs. This means taking all reasonable actions to: protect people, populations and personnel; proactively reduce SEAH risk and prevent SEAH incidents; create or strengthen ways in which concerns can be raised; and to respond robustly to concerns and cases in a way which prioritises the rights, dignity and needs of victim-survivors. PSEAH is sometimes also called ‘safeguarding against SEAH’. 

Some organisations distinguish between SEA and SH depending on whether the victim-survivor is a beneficiary of the services or support they provide (SEA), or a staff member (SH), and have separate policies and procedures on each. Other organisations have an overarching SEAH approach covering both SEA and SH.

CAPSEAH uses the collective term SEAH because each of SE, SA and SH are driven by power imbalances and inequality, particularly gender inequality, and all require action. Linking them encourages action to tackle all harmful and unwanted sexual behaviour by people delivering HDP work, regardless of where the incident happens or who the victim-survivor is.

Sexual Misconduct is a catch-all term which includes sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and sexual abuse and other forms of inappropriate behaviour of a sexual nature. This document uses the term sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, and sexual harassment (SEAH) rather than sexual misconduct, to be clear about the behaviour being referred to and its serious, sometimes criminal, nature.

Protection from Sexual Exploitation, Sexual Abuse and Sexual Harassment (PSEAH) – efforts to prevent and respond appropriately to sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment.

Safeguarding and Protection from Sexual Exploitation, Sexual Abuse and Sexual Harassment (PSEAH) are terms which describe cross-organisation measures to address SEAH. The term safeguarding generally includes other non-sexual harms and abuses. The term PSEA (Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse) is also used to refer to measures taken to protect people from sexual exploitation and abuse by staff and programmes. Unlike SEAH, PSEA does not always include sexual harassment.

Victim-Survivor – Refers to a person who has experienced harm as a result of SEAH. Some organisations and individuals prefer to refer to victims, to recognise the harm that has occurred to them, while others prefer to use the term survivor, in order to use a term with empowering connotations (although it must be remembered that unfortunately some victims do not survive). We will use both terms in parallel given their wide use across the humanitarian, development and peacekeeping sectors. 

Victim-survivor centred approach: an approach in which the victim-survivor’s rights, safety and well-being remain a priority in all matters and procedures.

Complainant/reporting person or whistle-blower – an aid worker or other person who reports allegations of SEAH.

Acronyms

DAC – Development Assistance Committee

GBV – Gender Based Violence

HQAI: Humanitarian Quality Assurance Initiative

IASC – Inter-Agency Standing Committee

IFI – International Financial Institution

INGO – International Non-Governmental Organisation

MFI – Multilateral Financial Institution

MoU – Memorandum of Understanding

NGO – Non-Governmental Organisation

PSEAH – Protection from Sexual Exploitation, Sexual Abuse and Sexual Harassment

SDGs – Sustainable Development Goals

SEA – Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

SEAH – Sexual Exploitation, Sexual Abuse and Sexual Harassment