UK launches global sex offender register
Government teams up with police and Interpol to track sex predators in the foreign aid sector
The UK has launched a pioneering global sex offender register aimed at rooting out sexual predators working in the aid sector.
Working in tandem with Interpol and the Association of Chief Police Officers’ Criminal Records Office (Acro), the Department for International Development (DFID) has launched a programme called Soteria, after the Greek goddess of protection. It aims to be a “one-stop shop” for charities to check the criminal records of present and potential employees.
The five-year project, which will be kickstarted with £2m of UK aid, will operate from two hubs in Africa and Asia, and harness Interpol’s green-notice system, which issues international alerts over those “considered to be a threat to public safety”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The first year will focus on testing an online platform and will also provide a secure online profile to upload concerns about employees - who could be hit with travel restrictions if placed under investigation.
International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said the register was part of a “concerted global effort” to tackle the issue, which made headlines earlier this year after a scandal about sexual predators working for Oxfam and Save the Children led MPs to conclude abuse in the aid sector had reached “epidemic” levels.
It comes as a new report from the Charity Commission found that there was “significant and systemic” under-reporting of abuse by charities working in the UK and abroad.
Speaking to The Times, Mordaunt said “the most shocking thing [about the Oxfam scandal] was the inadequacy of that organisation’s response”.
“The attitude and the culture set by the leaders of that organisation at the time demanded a big response and that response had to be wider than one organisation because this is a global problem,” she said.
The programme will “raise awareness, toughen criminal record checks across the sector internationally, and improve information-sharing between law enforcement agencies”, says The Independent. DFID hopes it will stop abuse by preventing high-risk suspects from being hired and increasing the chances of them being arrested.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Elounda: coastal calm in eastern Crete
The Week Recommends Secluded luxury on the Cretan coast, with options for families or grown-ups only
By William Leigh Published
-
6 homes near national parks
Feature Featuring a lodge surrounded by red-rock mountains in Utah and a cottage within walking distance of Acadia National Park
By The Week Staff Published
-
News overload
Opinion Too much breaking news is breaking us
By Theunis Bates Published
-
Gisèle Pelicot: the case that horrified France
The Explainer Survivor has been praised for demanding a public trial of the dozens of men accused of raping her
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Abercrombie ex-CEO charged with sex crimes
Speed Read Mike Jeffries ran the brand during its heyday from 1992 to 2014
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
The Pélicot case: a horror exposed
Talking Point This case is unusually horrifying, but the misogyny that enabled is chillingly common
By The Week UK Published
-
‘I’m a big flirt’: Kevin Spacey begins defence in sexual assault trial
Speed Read Jurors are seeing star ‘close up’ and ‘fighting for his innocence’
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
Gary Glitter back in prison amid ‘dark web’ allegations
Speed Read The paedophile singer was released in February after serving half of his sentence for sexually abusing three girls
By Ellie Pink Published
-
‘Only yes means yes’: Spain’s new sexual consent law
feature Legislation follows outcry over gang-rape case which made global headlines in 2016
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
Inside the ‘toxic culture’ scandal engulfing the Red Arrows
feature Allegations of bullying, assault and harassment have left the Royal Air Force team ‘in freefall’
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
Telford inquiry: unease about race meant mass sex abuse ignored
Speed Read Three-year inquiry described police inaction over abuse as a 'shocking failure'
By Richard Windsor Published