Tackling Sexual Exploitation and Abuse during the pandemic

With a chronic lack of Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) for IDP and refugee communities since the ISIS attacks of 2014, the Lotus Flower is to launch a second project to significantly improve support in this area.

Our first PSEA project ran as a pilot from October 2020 to the end of December, and involved a major awareness drive and the launch of better reporting systems, as well as increased psychological support for vulnerable people in three camps in Kurdistan where we work – Domiz 2, Essyan and Rwanga.

The project, which ran in cooperation with the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), began with an assessment of SEA awareness and support. As part of this study, we found that 76% of respondents had no idea what SEA was, while 63% said they felt cases of SEA had increased during the pandemic.

As the second stage of the project, we delivered training to our team and established adequate reporting mechanisms for victims at our centres. Additionally, we provided print and video communications offering PSEA advice and awareness at a range of discussion groups. Crucially, as well as targeting women and girls, we engaged men and boys in the process, in order to change destructive social norms that contribute to SEA.

We were pleased that this project reached more than 1,000 beneficiaries overall, which far exceeded our targets. Accordingly, we aim to replicate the success of the initiative by launching a second PSEA project in April. This is set to run for a further four months, and will be made possible with the kind support of SEZ in Germany.

Once again, we will increase awareness of SEA for up to 800 individuals through community outreach, highlight reporting procedures and hold weekly workshops – including for 100 government employees in the Duhok governorate.

Incidents of sexual exploitation and abuse have risen sharply during the Covid-19 crisis – partly due to enforced isolation, job losses and the shortage of resources exacerbated by repeated lockdowns. But in spite the increase in cases, SEA remains chronically under-reported due to fear of stigmatisation and rejection by family and the wider community. There are also a lack of legal services to enable abuse to be reported and acted upon.

For this reason, we believe our work in preventing such abuse and exploitation is all the more important, so please do support us if you can.