PSEAH Day of Action: Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day

Sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (SEAH) is a type of gender-based violence (GBV) that is perpetrated by humanitarian and development workers against program participants, community members, or fellow staff members. Like all forms of GBV, SEAH is rooted in gender inequality, the abuse of power, and harmful norms.

Humanitarian and development organizations have a particular responsibility to prevent and respond to SEAH. Like all forms of sexual violence, SEAH can have an immeasurable impact on a survivor. When SEAH incidents go unaddressed, it undermines the trust that communities put in our organizations to deliver vital goods and services.

October 26 marks the PSEAH Day of Action. This year’s theme is Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day, and is reflective of the centrality of PSEAH to our work as humanitarians and development workers.

Everyone at all levels of an organization is responsible for preventing and responding to SEAH. All staff can ensure that you know your organization’s reporting procedures, and report anything you feel may violate your organization’s PSEAH Code of Conduct. If you interact with program participants, ensure that they know their rights and how to report SEAH violations. Senior leaders can set PSEAH as an organizational priority by making training mandatory, making PSEAH a standing topic at staff meetings, and ensuring that PSEAH is given proper resourcing and staff within your organization.

You can access the social media toolkit for the Day of Action here.

What you need to know about PSEAH

1. SEAH is a form of gender-based violence. Like all forms of GBV, SEAH is rooted in gender inequality, the abuse of power, and harmful norms.
2. SEAH is a human rights issue. The communities with whom we work have a fundamental right to receive assistance and interact with our organization’s activities without being subject to this form of violence. Read more about this in InterAction’s Human Rights Framework for PSEAH.
3. SEAH occurs everywhere – in the United States and around the world, and in both humanitarian and development settings. This is why we Everyone must commit to PSEAH Everywhere, Every Day.

InterAction's CEO Pledge

In 2018, InterAction launched its CEO Pledge on Preventing Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment (the Pledge). The Pledge contains 16 commitments by CEOs of InterAction Member organizations and sector partners to commit to policies and practices to prevent and respond to SEAH. To date, 141 CEOs have signed the Pledge.

Shortly after, InterAction started the From Pledge to Action Project, which works with InterAction Member organizations to operationalize their commitments to the Pledge.

If your organization would like to sign the Pledge and join our working group, please reach out to Meriwether Beatty, Senior Manager for From Pledge to Action.