Ex-Peace Corps Volunteers Speak Out on Rape

Source: The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Jess Smochek arrived in Bangladesh in 2004 as a 23-year-old Peace Corps volunteer with dreams of teaching English and “helping the world.” She left six weeks later a rape victim after being brutalized in an alley by a knife-wielding gang.

When she returned to the United States, the reception she received from Peace Corps officials was as devastating, she said, as the rape itself. In Bangladesh, she had been given scant medical care; in Washington, a counselor implied that she was to blame for the attack. For years she kept quiet, feeling “ashamed and embarrassed and guilty.”

Today, Ms. Smochek is among a growing group of former Peace Corps volunteers who are speaking out about their sexual assaults, prompting scrutiny from Congress and a pledge from the agency for reform. In going public, they are exposing an ugly sliver of life in the Peace Corps: the dangers that volunteers face in far-flung corners of the world and the inconsistent — and, some say, callous — treatment they receive when they become crime victims.

“These women are alone in many cases, and they’re in rough parts of the world,” said Representative Ted Poe, Republican of Texas, who says the Peace Corps’ promises do not go far enough and is sponsoring legislation to force changes in the way it treats victims of sexual assault. “We want the United States to rush in and treat them as a victim of crime like they would be treated here at home.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/us/11corps.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

on issues of sexual violence abroad.

He fought tooth and nail for that woman who was raped and then locked up for days at KBR.

This might be the first time I've praised a Republican on this board.

I remember one time when Dan Quayle (of all people!) was asked what he would do if his daughter grew up and chose to have an abortion. And he said (after a considerable pause) "I'd support her."

It didn't make him any less of a moron, but it certainly showed that he was a real father who thought and cared about his child.

Yes, there are a lot of GOPpie wackjobs who are so far gone that they'd happily toss anyone and everyone they've ever cared about under the bus for the sake of their political careers and the bribes from their Oligarch owners. But there are some who haven't been quite that dehumanized yet. Poe sounds like he might be one of those.

interestedly,
Bright

in a debate between Obama, Edwards and H Clinton--the issue of sexual abuse
arose. I believe someone (possibly Edwards) was questioning some of Obama's
"present" votes during his tenure as an Illinois state Senator. One of the
votes dealt with sexual abuse.

Obama snapped back and said that he takes seriously the issue of sexual abuse issue
because "it happened in my family". I couldn't believe it when it was said.

I didn't hear anyone in the media question it ever again, and I rarely hear
anyone talk about it.

I've always wondered what happpened in the family. Incest? Did the father
molest someone in the family?

I applaud candidate Obama for being so honest and forthcoming. Silence
only benefits perpetrators.

:grr:

"But from 2000 to 2009, on average, 22 Peace Corps women each year reported being the victims of rape or attempted rape, the agency says. During that time, more than 1,000 Peace Corps volunteers reported sexual assaults, including 221 rapes or attempted rapes. Because sexual crimes often go unreported, experts say the incidence is likely to be higher, though they and the Peace Corps add that it is difficult to assess whether the volunteers face any greater risk overseas than women in the United States do."


And, our government says:



"He {director of the Peace Corps, Aaron S. Williams} insisted that it was safe for women to serve in the Peace Corps. “We do not place Peace Corps volunteers in unsafe environments,” he said."