Abstract
AbstractThe purpose of this essay is to explore the implications of #metoo and #aidtoo for understanding nonprofit/nongovernmental organization (NPO/NGO) theory and practice. We provide an overview of how women have experienced sexual violence in the context of NPOs/NGOs and draw on an intersectional feminist theory lens to highlight the context that enables violence to persist, and which requires more than implementing bureaucratic accountability reforms. We end by discussing potential avenues for creating change to end such violence.
Highlights
The purpose of this essay is to explore the implications of #metoo and #aidtoo for understanding nonprofit/nongovernmental organization (NPO/Nongovernmental organization (NGO)) theory and practice.1 The #metoo movement started in the U.S more than a decade ago as a grassroots effort to show support for survivors of sexual violence, principally for young women of color from low wealth communities, but has recently gained prominence when the #metoo hashtag went viral (Me Too Movement 2018)
After the news broke of Oxfam workers paying for sex in Haiti, as well as additional examples of sexual violence coming to light at other NGOs (Bacchi 2018), women in the global aid sector promoted their own version of #metoo, using the hashtag #aidtoo, to bring attention to sexual violence in the humanitarian aid sector
The rest of the paper is organized as follows: First, we provide an overview of how women have suffered violence in the context of Nonprofit organizations (NPOs)/NGOs, humanitarian aid organizations, and why this seems to persist
Summary
The purpose of this essay is to explore the implications of #metoo and #aidtoo for understanding nonprofit/nongovernmental organization (NPO/NGO) theory and practice. The #metoo movement started in the U.S more than a decade ago as a grassroots effort to show support for survivors of sexual violence, principally for young women of color from low wealth communities, but has recently gained prominence when the #metoo hashtag went viral (Me Too Movement 2018). NPO/NGOs – especially humanitarian aid organizations – are expected to protect the most vulnerable in society, yet some (perhaps many) clearly fail as we have seen with #metoo/#aidtoo stories The response to such situations in the past has been to call for stronger organizational accountability and bureaucratic reforms (Berdahl and Raver 2011; Garrie 2011) and in more recent cases, improving codes of ethics (Carolei 2019). Oxfam and other recent scandals have brought the issue to the fore, violence against women in the NPO/NGO sector – both workers and beneficiaries – has been going on for a long time and is perhaps much more pervasive than many realize Such sexual violence continues despite the reporting, monitoring, and public attention to the issue. Such uneven power dynamics create structural inequalities for women employees and beneficiaries alike, putting them at greater risk of sexual violence (Sandoval 2018). Tremblay (1999) maintains that the “universalizing and homogenizing concepts of administration” are centered on “nonpolitical, neutral, technical, scientific and efficient” (75) rhetoric that underpin patriarchal structures and foster bias and discrimination against women (see Stivers 1993)
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