Some Sudanese women and girls claim that men, including those meant to protect them, such as aid workers and local security forces, have sexually exploited them in displacement sites in Chad by offering money, easier access to assistance and places to work. Such sexual exploitation in Chad is a crime.

Hundreds of thousands of people, mostly women, have entered Chad to escape Sudan’s civil war, which has killed more than 20,000 people. Aid groups are scrambling to support them in places of growing displacement.

Three women spoke to the AP in the town of Adre, near the border with Sudan. A Sudanese psychologist shared the accounts of seven other women and girls who either refused to speak directly to a reporter or were no longer in touch with her. AP could not confirm their accounts.

Daral-Salam Omar, a psychologist, said all seven told him they accepted offers of benefits in exchange for sex out of necessity. Some sought her help because they became pregnant and could not get an abortion at a clinic for fear of being shunned by their community, she said.

“They were psychologically destroyed. Imagine a woman getting pregnant without a husband in that situation,” Omar said.

Sexual exploitation during major humanitarian crises is not uncommon, especially in places of displacement. Aid groups have long struggled to combat the problem. They cite a lack of reporting by women, insufficient funding to respond and a focus on providing basic needs first.

The UN refugee agency said it does not release data on cases, citing the privacy and safety of victims.

People seeking protection should never make choices driven by survival, experts said. Nidhi Kapur, who works to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse in emergency settings, said exploitation represents a profound failure of the aid community.

Yewande Odia, the representative of the United Nations Population Fund in Chad, said that sexual exploitation is a serious violation. UN agencies said the displacement camps have “safe spaces” where women can gather, along with awareness sessions, a free hotline and feedback boxes to report abuse anonymously.

However, many of the Sudanese women said they were not aware of the hotline, and some said using the boxes would attract unwanted attention.

The Sudanese woman with the newborn said she was afraid to report the aid worker for fear he would hand her over to the police.

She said she approached the aid worker, a Sudanese man, after looking for jobs to buy basic goods such as soap. She asked him for money. He said he would give her money, but only in exchange for sex.

They slept together for months, she said, and he paid the equivalent of about $12 each time. After she gave birth to the baby, he gave her a one-time payment of about $65 but denied it was his, she said.

The man was a Sudanese worker for Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, she said.

Two other Sudanese women said Chadian men working at MSF sites – one wearing MSF clothing – solicited them after they applied to work with the organisation. The men took their phone numbers and called repeatedly, saying they would offer them jobs for sex. Both women said they refused.

Christopher Lockyear, MSF’s secretary-general, said the organization was unaware of the allegations and wanted to investigate. “Asking money or sex in exchange for access to care or a job is a clear breach of our behavioral commitments,” he said.

MSF did not say how many such cases were reported among Sudanese refugees in Chad. Last year, of 714 complaints made about the behavior of MSF staff where they work globally, 264 were confirmed to be cases of abuse or misconduct, including sexual exploitation, abuse of power and bullying, Lockyear said.

Lockyear said MSF is creating a group of investigators globally to increase its capacity to bring charges.

One woman told the AP that a man with another aid group also exploited her, but she was unable to identify the organization. Omar, the psychologist, said several of the women told him they had been exploited by workers, local and international. She did not provide any evidence to support the claims.

Another woman, one of two who claimed to have been approached after looking for work with MSF, said she also turned down a local policeman who approached her and promised her an extra food ration card if she went to his house.

Ali Mahamat Sebey, Adre’s chief official, said the police were not allowed to enter the camps and said allegations against them of exploitation were false. With the ever-increasing influx of people, however, it’s hard to protect everyone, he said.

The women said they just wanted to feel safe, adding that access to jobs would reduce their vulnerability.

After most of her family was killed or kidnapped in Sudan’s Darfur region last year, a 19-year-old girl sought refuge in Chad. She did not have enough money to support the nieces and nephews in her care. She got a job at a restaurant in the camp, but when she asked the Sudanese boss for a raise, he agreed on the condition of sex.

The money he paid her was more than six times her salary. But when she became pregnant with his child, the man ran away, she claimed. He rubbed his growing belly.

“If we had enough, we wouldn’t have to go out and lose our dignity,” she said.