WeeklySA_AdminHANKY-PANKY: WHO staff sent as medical response to Ebola outbreak face serious sex-abuse accusations
By Monk Nkomo
Independent Commission of Inquiry investigators listened to horror stories from dozens of Congolese women about being repeatedly raped and sexually exploited allegedly by WHO employees who offered them jobs in exchange for sex in Ebola-ravaged territories in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Following are the testimonies of the women interviewed by the commission’s investigators. Their names and surnames have been withheld to protect their identities.
*Lina told investigators that she had resisted for two months the advances of a response administrator in Butembo who had promised her a job as a hygienist, but that she had finally given in to his sexual advances because her other job had ended and she needed money to support herself and her four children. She said she did not dare to ask him to use a condom for fear that he would refuse to have sex with her and that she would not get the job.
* Isala said she was working at the Butembo surveillance commission when her boss, a doctor working at Butembo Hospital for WHO, told her that she had to give him half her salary or have sex with him to get the job. She paid him for four months before she finally complained to her superiors. The payments stopped but the doctor was never sanctioned and continued to harass her.
* Jolianne, described by the commission as the youngest of the victims but no age given, said she was selling phone recharge cards on the side of the road in April 2019 in Mangina, when she was approached by a WHO driver who offered her a lift home. Instead she was taken to a hotel where she was raped. As a result of this rape, she became pregnant and had a child. This affected her family relationships.
* Madeleine, a law graduate, who also had professional experience, said while looking for a job, she ended up in the hotel room of a WHO security officer in Butembo who tried to have sex with her. She managed to escape. The culprit was later identified following the details provided by the victim.
* Severine, 43, was invited by a man posing as a WHO employee on September 17, 2019 to the Viaka Hotel to discuss the possibility of her being employed in the Ebola response awareness committee. Once in the hotel room, the man told her she had to have sex with him first before being hired. She refused and the man raped her. She got the job the following day but ended up resigning because her attacker continued to sexually harass her.It was later established that the suspect was not strictly a WHO employee but was a WHO service provider.
* Lisianne who worked for WHO in Komanda was asked by an expatriate doctor to have sex with him. The commission was able to identify the suspect who was also an epidemiologist. He threatened to make her lose her job if she did not succumb to his advances. She finally gave in to his solicitations so she would not lose her job. After a first sexual encounter in December 2019 at a hotel, he coerced her again in February 2020. She became pregnant. When she told him about her condition, he gave her abortion pills. The suspect was identified as a Mr. Beta, who denied the allegations.
*Caroline was working in Butembo with WHO when she met a member of security. The first day she signed her contract the man was already making sexual advances. She went to his house to tell him to stop. Instead the man, armed with a knife, severely assaulted her. The suspect was later identified as a Mr. Jupiter.
*Valerie : A young woman who had been working in a poorly paid administrative position, had trained as a nurse and was trying to obtain a higher , better-paying nursing position. An expatriate doctor, whom the commission managed to identify as a WHO epidemiologist, told her she had to become his girlfriend to get the job. When she rejected his advance, she did not get the job. The suspect was identified as Mr. Gamma who denied the allegations.
* Fabienne worked in Komanda and returned to Bunia where she was assigned to a vaccination and communication team. In February 2019 she met an expatriate WHO staff member who at some stage invited her to his flat to work with her. At the flat, he tried to have sex with her by pulling her from behind and putting his arms around her. The commission was able to identify the man as Mr. Pluton.
* Paulette went to the Mangina referral centre to seek employment in February 2020. While standing outside a man pulled her and another woman aside and asked for their phone numbers so he could call and offer them jobs.They were eventually called and told by the man to meet him at a hotel. On arrival at the hotel, they found the man with a male colleague. They (men) took their phones and asked the women to collect them in their hotel room. Paulette said she went to the room to collect her phone. Once inside the room she was forced to have sex with one of the men and she became pregnant. The commission was able to identify the suspect as a Mr.Carlos who was a security guard at Mangina.
* Marie said she was called while working in a field near Mangina by a man who introduced himself as a WHO driver. He promised her a job in the response team but only in exchange for sex. Not only did she fall pregnant after the ordeal, but she never got the job.
* Clarette said after she became pregnant as a result of the alleged sexual exploitation and abuse, her parents stopped funding her education.
*Sikudhani also told investigators that she had to stop her studies when she became pregnant as a result of the alleged sexual abuse.
* Grace, who lived in Beni, was selected for training on Ebola prevention and response. The training took place at the Vihum Hotel in the Mabakanga district. One of the trainers told the participants that the person with the highest marks at the end of the training session would be selected for a job. Being sure that she had done very well in the test, she contacted the trainer after the event to find out her grades and they communicated several times on the phone. In January 2019, he invited her to visit him. She was earning $40 a month at the time. The trainer told her that in order to get the job, she would have to agree to have sex with him. Grace said she agreed because she really needed the money.
* Jeanne said she went to the Ebola Coordination Centre in Mangina to look for a job as a cleaner. She was told to leave her name and number in case a position became available. She was then called by a friend of the manager who had registered her at the centre. She only got the job in return for having sex with the friend of the manager who had recruited her. She only worked for a fortnight.
