Syria conflict: Women ‘sexually exploited in return for aid’
Women in Syria have been sexually exploited by men delivering aid on behalf of the UN and international charities, the BBC has learned.
Aid workers said the men would trade food and lifts for sexual favors.
Despite warnings about the abuse three years ago, a new report shows it is continuing in the south of the country.
UN agencies and charities said they had zero tolerance of exploitation and were not aware of any cases of abuse by partner organizations in the region.
Aid workers told the BBC that the exploitation is so widespread that some Syrian women are refusing to go to distribution centres because people would assume they had offered their bodies for the aid they brought home.
One worker claimed that some humanitarian agencies were turning a blind eye to the exploitatio...