Over the last six months, a spate of sexual misconduct scandals has rocked the international development sector. In this op-ed, Deborah Doane discusses the impact that the scandals – which came as little surprise to many working within the organisations affected – are having, including loss of trust, loss of income and increased regulation. Already facing a hostile operating environment, Doane argues that civil society has two choices – either to continue unchanged or to see the scandals as an opportunity to disrupt the sector and its existing systems. She argues that the later will require considerably more imagination, ambition and up-front investment than is currently evident. In addition, Doane makes the case for southern organizations needing to change as much as northern organizations – despite the fact that the scandals erupted from within the latter – because doing so will help address existing power imbalances between the South and North.

The article is available in Sur International Journal on Human Rights.

Photo by Carl Nenzen Loven on Unsplash