Sexual Violence in the Peace Corps

Trigger warning: The videos* in this post contain explicit descriptions of sexual violence against women.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country. -John F. Kennedy

In a recent 20/20 segment, returned Peace Corps volunteer (RPCV) women were interviewed about sexual violence they experienced during their service. In the opening part of the segment, Brian Ross begins with:

The Peace Corps has been a long respected development organization in the world. Promoting peace and friendship in countries by placing the American volunteers on the ground to work with villagers. But an investigation by 20/20 found that more than 1,000 young American women who served in the Peace Corps, have been raped or sexually assaulted in the last decade while volunteering in those countries. In some cases, victims say, the Peace Corps ignored safety concerns and later, Peace Corps counselors tried to blame the women who were raped for bringing on the attacks.

The first part of the segment started with the murder of Peace Corps volunteer, Kate, who was assigned to volunteer in Benin. Kate’s parents are then interviewed by Ross, where they say that after the murder of their daughter, there was no apology from the Peace Corps, not even a how or why of her murder. They only received a box of Kate’s things were delivered via regular mail to their door:

[Part I]*

“We are grieving because Kate is dead. But we are grieving because Kate was murdered, and I’m angry.”

Other segments include details of sexual assaults and brutal rapes of a handful of Peace Corps women volunteers:

[Part II]*

“The Peace Corps had instructed her [former Peace Corps Country Director of Benin, who shortly resigned after Kate's murder], not to discuss the case”

[Part III]*

“Just because someone has a drink, doesn’t give anyone the right to violate them.”

I originally read about these 20/20 segments in a Jezebel article that asks, “Are Women in the Peace Corps At Risk?” I cringe when I read anything about sexual violence, but this subject is particularly close to me. As a former Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco, one of the reasons why I chose to leave my service early was because I felt unsafe as a woman.

In Part III of the 20/20 segment above, Brian Ross interviews a former PCV, Jess, who describes a brutal gang rape while she was volunteering in Bangladesh. It is revealed that the Peace Corps wanted to keep this incident hush-hush. In one conversation between Ross and Jess:

Jess: When the decision was made that I was going to go to Washington, D.C. [after Jess was gang raped], I was told to tell volunteers that I was having my wisdom teeth taken out.

Ross: To keep this quiet?

Jess: Yeah.

This is not a one-time incident where the Peace Corps covers up this particular rape, as shown in the other rapes and sexually violent attacks described by other Peace Corps volunteers. Ross also interviews the Deputy Director of the Peace Corps, Carrie Hessler-Radelet, while she is “deeply sorry” about the rape and murder incidents, cannot officially say anything until “the investigations are complete” (it is to be noted that 20/20 tried to interview the Director of the Peace Corps, Aaron S. Williams, but he declined the interview). And to be honest, as a former Peace Corps volunteer, I am not surprised by any of this.

In the responses to Ross’ questions, Hessler-Radelat instead dodges the bullet and repeatedly states that about 98% of Peace Corps volunteers feel very safe. I am extremely skeptical of this statistic–I tried to find this stat online (even looked on the Peace Corps website), but couldn’t find anything. What I want to know is–when did they survey the volunteers? How was the question phrased? And how many in the survey were men, and how many were women?

My experience in the Peace Corps is and was in no way representative of the Peace Corps experience. In fact, I have many Peace Corps friends (men and women) who thoroughly enjoyed their experience. But that’s not to say that they (and other Peace Corps volunteers) felt safe. ABC News posted a reaction to the 20/20 segment on their blog, in which one Peace Corps applicant states that

I am deeply sorry for the women who had to endure those experiences. The reality is we live in a world sadly poisoned by hate and anger. Choosing to serve in the Peace Corps means taking a risk. -Sarah Kaiser-Cross

Yes, it does mean taking a risk–but as a citizen serving the United States in service, it is the duty of the government to protect you in the safest way possible. That means–not ignoring emails where volunteers express feeling unsafe in their community (like exemplified in the brutal murder of Kate as shown above) and acknowledging mistakes made on the Peace Corps behalf.

The Peace Corps was created in 1961 where the Peace Corps Act was passed to:

To promote world peace and friendship through a Peace Corps, which shall make available to interested countries and areas men and women of the United States qualified for service abroad and willing to serve, under conditions of hardship if necessary, to help the peoples of such countries and areas in meeting their needs for trained manpower.

As volunteers who are serving their country similar (but not the same) to those enrolled in the U.S. military, they deserve the justice and respect from their fellow country citizens and government.

It’s been a few years since I’ve been out of the Peace Corps, but since then my opinion has not changed. If the Peace Corps is founded on “world friendship and peace,” why can’t it offer support for counseling and grieving of rape and sexual assault victims? As shown in the 20/20 segment above, the Peace Corps is trying to portray a facade of “world friendship and peace” but at the same time shoving incidents of sexual violent attacks against women volunteers aside–for me, that is not world peace.

Obama, in his campaign for president back in 2008, said that he plans to expand the Peace Corps (though it seems as though he has not addressed this issue yet). Among other issues that the Peace Corps needs to address (organization, training, and support) is to provide safety and support during and after service especially to women, who are more prone to sexual violence.

*My apologies, as I’m unable to find transcripts for these videos. If anyone finds them, please let me know so everyone can access them!

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