ADRE, Chad (AP) — Crossing the border into Chad, this 27-year-old thought she had left behind the horrors of the war in Sudan: the bodies she had crushed while fleeing, the cries of raped girls, the disappearance of her husband when armed men attacked. But now she says she has faced more suffering: being forced, as a refugee, to have sex to survive.

She cradled her 7-week-old son, who she said was the child of an aid worker who had promised her money in exchange for sex.

“The children were crying. We ran out of food,” she said of her four other children. “He took advantage of my situation.” She and other women who spoke to The Associated Press requested anonymity because they feared retaliation.

Some Sudanese women and girls say men, including those supposed to protect them, such as aid workers and local security forces, sexually exploited them in Chad’s displacement sites, offering them money and access easier to assist and use. Such sexual exploitation in Chad is a crime.

Hundreds of thousands of people, mostly women, have flocked to Chad to escape Sudan’s civil war, which has killed more than 20,000 people. Humanitarian groups are struggling to support them in sites of growing displacement.

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

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

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

Sexual exploitation during large humanitarian crises is not uncommon, particularly in displacement sites. Humanitarian groups have long struggled to combat this problem. They cite a lack of reporting by women, a lack of funds to respond, and a focus on providing basic necessities.

The U.N. refugee agency said it does not release data on cases, citing confidentiality and safety of victims.

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

Yewande Odia, representative of the United Nations Population Fund in Chad, said sexual exploitation was a serious violation. UN agencies said IDP camps have “safe spaces” where women can gather, as well as awareness sessions, a toll-free hotline and comment boxes to report abuse anonymously.

Yet many Sudanese women said they were unaware 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 report her to the police.

She said she contacted the aid worker, a Sudanese, after looking for work to buy basic necessities like 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, 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 of whom wore MSF clothing – approached them after applying to work with the organization. The men took their phone numbers and called repeatedly to tell them they would give them work for sex. Both women said they refused.

Christopher Lockyear, MSF secretary general, said the organization was unaware of the allegations and wanted to investigate. “Asking for money or sex in exchange for access to care or employment is a blatant violation of our behavioral commitments,” he said.

MSF would not say how many such cases have been reported among Sudanese refugees in Chad. Last year, out of 714 complaints filed about the behavior of MSF staff around the world, 264 were confirmed as cases of abuse or inappropriate behavior, including sexual exploitation, abuse of power and intimidation, Lockyear said.

Lockyear said MSF was creating a group of investigators globally to strengthen its ability to pursue allegations.

One woman told the AP that a man from another aid group also exploited her, but she could not identify the organization. Omar, the psychologist, said several of the women told her they were being exploited by local and international aid workers. She provided no evidence to support her claims.

Another woman, one of two who said she was approached after looking for work for MSF, said she had also refused a local police officer who approached her and promised her an extra food ration card if she was going to his house.

Ali Mahamat Sebey, head of Adre, said police were not allowed to enter the camps and claimed the exploitation allegations against them were false. However, with the increasing influx of people, it is difficult to protect everyone, he said.

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

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

The money he paid was more than six times his salary. But when she became pregnant with his child, the man fled, she said. She rubbed her growing belly.

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

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