A leading European charity has accused humanitarian workers and United Nations peacekeepers of having sexually abused small children in several poor, resource-limited and war-ravaged countries, CNN.com Europe reports (cnn.com, 5/27).

In a report released on May 27, Save the Children UK says that children as young as 6 have been forced to have sex with peacekeepers and aid workers in exchange for food and money.

“People don’t report it because they are worried that the agency will stop working here, and we need them,” said a teenage boy in southern Sudan.

The researchers suggested that such abuse is common around the world.