June 17, 2019

Vesper Group was one of the first security companies to become certified by the International Code of Conduct Assocation, ICoCA. The association governs and oversees the implementation of the Code of Conduct and promotes the responsible provision of private security services.

Vesper Group was present when ICoCA recently held a roundtable discussion in Geneva to address the issue of sexual exploitation and abuse. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the recently published guidelines (PSEA) for private security companies on preventing and addressing sexual exploitation and abuse.

The roundtable discussions evolved around the challenges that private security companies face when preventing sexual exploitation in the context of operations. Amongst the topics were experiences and good practices within the security industry, but also lessons learned within the humanitarian sector from dealing with these problems.

Both private security companies and civil society organizations participated at the roundtable, all committed to addressing and preventing exploitation and abuse. Subject area experts were also present, and the day was a success with many fruitful talks and an open discussion.

One of the conclusions was that more cooperation is needed and will take place between private security companies and civil society organizations, in order to address the challenges and minimize sexual exploitation and abuse in relation to global security operations. Vesper Group is a committed member of ICoCA and the PSEA and will continue to support ICoCA on this important matter.

Facts about ICoCA
ICoCA’s members consists of seven governments, 87 private security companies, 32 civil society organisations and 34 observers. Read more about ICoCA: https://www.icoca.ch/en/association