Who Controlled the Investigation? We NEED to Know!

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Just because an organization hires a law firm to conduct an independent investigation does not mean the investigation isn’t biased. The Exodus Road hired its legal counsel, Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie, to conduct an independent investigation into serious allegations of sexual abuse. It is common practice for organizations with serious allegations to launch an independent investigation. However, using the term “independent” instead of “internal” is playing fast and loose with semantics. To truly protect individuals from future harm, organizations mustn’t investigate themselves. It does matter whether an investigation is truly independent. For an investigation to be truly independent, the organization should have no control over any part of the investigation.

 

All too often, NGOs focus their attention on protecting the brand and reputation of the organization. There is little to no concern for the victims! It’s important to understand that just hiring a law firm or a private investigative group doesn’t mean it’s entirely an independent investigation. Once again, the organization is trying to do everything they can to pacify the public. This doesn’t mean that they are lying about the facts, it just means they are controlling the investigation and many times prevaricating to avoid a full disclosure of the truth. In the case of The Exodus Road, their independent investigation found inappropriate workplace behavior, but no sexual abuse. Since the public isn’t privy to the information and the complete source of interviews that were conducted it is hard to say whether this was truly an independent investigation. Bo Tchividjian writes, https://xalionsden.com/blog/investigations-internal-or-independent

“Disguising an internal investigation as independent ultimately exploits and hurts abuse survivors who are told they are engaging in a particular type of process only to learn when it’s too late that they have unwittingly participated in something that will be used to protect the institution.”

 

It is misleading to claim that you have initiated an independent investigation while still maintaining control over the investigation process. An internal investigation means that the institution has authority over the investigators, who they interview, and the content of their report. Therefore, an internal investigation is conducted by an organization seeking to improve its operational procedures while still maintaining control over the final narrative before its release. What is often omitted from public information is whether the institution conducting the investigation has a fiduciary duty to the organization being investigated. In most cases, a law firm has fiduciary duties, making it technically not an independent investigation. If the agreement between the investigation firm and the organization allows the organization to control any part of the investigation, it is not truly independent.

Pro Bono | Dykema

Here is the problem with The Exodus Road’s claim of an independent investigation. There were already several anti-trafficking organizations who refused to work with The Exodus Road, (and still are) they kept their distance in order not to be associated with them. Concerns about their wealthy lifestyle, their treatment of staff, and their operating procedures made and still make other organizations and leaders uncomfortable. Celeste McGee, is the founder and executive director of Dton Naam, an anti-trafficking group working with males and trans youth. She is quoted in this article     https://gobserver.net/4822/global-diaries/thailand/allegations-of-sexual-misconduct-at-exodus-road/

“If something similar happened within her own staff, her concern would be for the staff member who was hurt or harmed. It would not be about dismissing their story.”

It’s hard to believe it was an independent investigation when The Exodus Road was already commenting on the investigation. Kyle Fisk, spokesman for The Exodus Road called them   “baseless allegations from just a couple of disgruntled former associates, they are untrue and have no reliable evidence, regarding the sexual assault allegations.”

https://gobserver.net/4822/global-diaries/thailand/allegations-of-sexual-misconduct-at-exodus-road/

He continued by stating that Eric Shark is not a reliable source of information. This strongly suggests that the law firm they hired to carry out an impartial investigation was not independent. Before you donate your hard-earned money to The Exodus Road, I suggest considering these accusations and examining who looked into them.

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