Prostitution in Chad

Prostitution in Chad is illegal but common, especially in the urban centres and the south of the country.

Allegations of sexual misconduct by Oxfam staff

In February 2018 an investigation by The Times newspaper found that Oxfam allowed three men to resign and sacked four for gross misconduct after an inquiry concerning sexual exploitation, the downloading of pornography, bullying and intimidation. A confidential report produced by Oxfam in 2011 found that there had been “a culture of impunity” among some staff in Haiti and concluded that 'it cannot be ruled out that any of the prostitutes were under-aged'. Among the staff who were permitted to resign was the charity's Belgian country director, Roland Van Hauwermeiren. According to the internal report, Van Hauwermeiren admitted using prostitutes at a villa whose rent was paid for by Oxfam with charitable funds. Oxfam's chief executive at the time, Dame Barbara Stocking, offered Hauwermeiren “a phased and dignified exit” because of concern that sacking him risked “potentially serious implications” for the charity’s work and reputation.

A few days after The Times published its revelations, it emerged that Oxfam had been aware of allegations that, while serving as director of the organisation's relief operation in Chad in 2006, Van Hauwermeiren and other staff had repeatedly made use of prostitutes at the Oxfam team house there, and that one of Oxfam's staff members had been fired for his behaviour. In the wake of these revelations, Oxfam's deputy chief executive Penny Lawrence resigned, taking full responsibility and acknowledging that "(c)oncerns were raised about the behaviour of staff in Chad as well as Haiti that we failed to adequately act upon". New allegations were made by a senior staffer, Helen Evans, who had been the lead investigator of organizational sexual misconduct between 2012 and 2015.