Noem claims 1 in 6 survivors of Lahaina wildfires had to 'trade sexual favors' for supplies
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday suggested the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response to the 2023 Lahaina wildfires was so poor that one in six survivors had to trade sexual favors in exchange for basic supplies — a reference to a report on female Filipino fire survivors that one of the authors says is a “gross manipulation” of their work.
“After the wildfires in Maui, residents voiced concerns that every FEMA employee that they spoke with had different answers,” Noem said at a FEMA review meeting. “None of them had conversations that resulted in getting assistance that was helpful or any clarity in their situations. The situation in Lahaina was so bad that one in six survivors were forced to trade sexual favors, other favors for just basic supplies.”
In response to POLITICO’s question about where the statistic came from, DHS sent a May press release containing a link to the report. The study, conducted by Tagnawa, which describes itself as a “Filipino feminist disaster response organization” based in Hawaii, surveyed 70 female Filipino fire survivors and found that 16 percent of those surveyed — roughly one in six — engaged in “survival sex in exchange for basic necessities post-disaster.”
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“I’m more concerned about just the gross manipulation of using that statistic to do the opposite of what the report calls for,” she said. “Like funding FEMA to improve their response for women’s needs.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/09/kristi-noem-fema-attack-00445683