Act Alliance2019-09-252019-09-252014-07-172011-03-24http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12424/209833"ACT recognises that Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) can occur in any development or humanitarian setting. Sexual violence is the most immediate and dangerous type of gender-based violence occurring in emergencies. In humanitarian crises, however, the dependency of affected populations on humanitarian agencies for their basic needs creates an additional ethical responsibility and duty of care on the part of all ACT staff. All humanitarian personnel should therefore assume and believe that gender-based violence, and in particular sexual violence, may be taking place, as a serious and life-threatening protection issue, regardless of the presence or absence of concrete and reliable evidence. Therefore, action must be taken from the earliest stages of an emergency, which help prevent sexual violence, sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) and reduce opportunities for the misuse of power. In preparing for an emergency response, it is essential to ensure that adequate structures and capacity are in place, for both ACT Alliance employees and affected populations and communities. Therefore, the purpose of this document is to provide guidelines for ACT members on how to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) and how to respond to SEA. These Guidelines stop at the pre-investigation stage as separate ACT Complaints Handling and Investigation Guidelines are available for ACT members to complement this document."engWith permission of the license/copyright holderAct Alliancesexual abuseguidelinessexual exploitationcode of ethicscode of conductEconomic ethicsBusiness ethicsBioethicsSocial ethicsSexual orientation/genderPreprint