Archive - 2011

Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams will be on the Kojo Nnamdi show on WAMU, the Washington PBS station from noon to 2 pm, EDT, today, Thursday.   Not sure how syndicated the show is beyond Washington, but it can be streamed live  at http://wamu.org/listen/ or  downloaded later on podcast — or both, if you’re really a glutton for talk radio.

Celebrating the Peace Corps Published: May 21, 2011 To the Editor: “Ex-Peace Corps Volunteers Speak Out on Rape” (news article, May 11) threatens to overshadow 50 years of service by Americans in some 140 countries around the world. It is true that sexual assaults happen to Peace Corps volunteers and women all around the world, and yes, we should all grieve over these terrible acts. It is also true that from time to time such tragedies may not be handled well by some agency staff as well as some host-country counterparts. But these facts belie a larger and more important truth. The Peace Corps has had more than 200,000 volunteers working in some of the most remote corners of the world safely and successfully. But even with rigorous training and responsible oversight, volunteers can never be completely immune from sexual assault and violent crime. And yet Peace Corps volunteers are . . .

We know that women today make up more than 64% of all Peace Corps Volunteers. Let me ask: how many Country Directors are women? When I was an APCD in Ethiopia we had one, maybe two, women on a staff of 10-12. Today, the number of female staffers is higher, but is it high enough?  With such an increase of female Volunteers, shouldn’t the Peace Corps have the same increase in women CDs? Could it be that if we had more female CD’s there might be fewer complaints that the sexual assaults aren’t being properly investigated by the staff? A friend of mine who is in law enforcement says that as a “general rule” male do not take ‘assault charges’ that seriousely. The Peace Corps must. One way to show we are serious about this issue is to hire more RPCV women as Country Directors. It would, at this moment in the agency’s history, I think, do the Peace Corps a lot of good.

Year Rape/Attempted Rape Major Sexual Assault Other Sexual Assault Volunteers on Board Female Total 2000 28 11 51 4415 7164 2001 22 23 68 4025 6643 2002 16 18 61 4060 6636 2003 26 11 57 4411 7533 2004 25 10 70 4462 7733 2005 23 15 79 4535 7810 2006 22 10 69 4537 7749 2007 21 11 87 4794 8079 2008 23 18 88 4713 7876 2009 15 20 80 4624 7671 Total 221 147 710     Average 22.1 14.7 71     The definition of each category is in the 2009 Security Report and follow here: Definitions Rape: Penetration of the vagina or anus with a penis, tongue, finger or object without the consent and/or against the will of the Volunteer. This includes when a victim is unable to consent because of ingestion of drugs and/or alcohol. Rape also includes forced oral sex, where: 1. the . . .

Casey Frazee of First Response sent me an email the other day, after I had posted my blog about ‘what the Peace Corps was doing now’ to handle the sexual assaults in the agency. She wrote:  “I can send you the stat sheet from the Peace Corps but the last three years are the HIGHEST on record for the agency. The incidence rate in the Peace Corps is 5 times higher that the US rate of rape and sexual assault. “There was a small decline in the REPORTS of rape in 2009, but the Peace Corps’ own survey shows there were another 33 unreported rapes in 2009 which is double+ the reported figure for that year. ” The Peace Corps’ initiatives are still very new and there has NOT been any PCV training yet, only staff training which was rolled out this February. The training was also not vetted by experts . . .

Since being appointed to their positions in the Peace Corps some 20 months ago,  and  months after the terrible murder of Kate Puzin, Aaron Williams and Carrie Hessler-Radelet, have initiated a series of prevention measures overseas that involve safety and security. The Peace Corps now has a reporting system to track sexual assault, and that data is used to train staff. So far, the agency says that they has seen a decline in the incidence rate of rape and sexual assaults. Also, the Peace Corps is now  reporting that in 2009-2010 arrests were made in 61% of the rape and attempted rape cases in which the PCVs came forward and filed a report with the local police. So what else? Well, like always the Peace Corps has formed groups, committees, and called in the ‘outside experts.’ Lets start with the  Sexual Assault Working Group–this is an on-going group that “analyzes current agency protocols and recommends agency strategies for sexual . . .

The famous “Mayflower Gang” created the Peace Corps in 30 days in two rooms of the Mayflower Hotel on Connecticut Avenue several blocks from the White House in February 1961. The ‘Gang’ was led by Shriver, Harris Wofford, Warren Wiggins, Bill Josephson and a half dozen others giving suggestions and making their points. These were ‘advisors’ like the Secretary of State Dean Rush; Father Hesburgh, President of Notre Dame;  Gordon Boyce, President of the Experiment in International Living; Albert Sims of the Institute of International Education; George Carter, a campaign worker on civil rights issues; Franklin Williams, an organizer of the campaign for black voter registration and a student of African affairs; Adam Yarmolinsky, a foundation executive. These advisers came from all corners (if not both rooms in the suite) and most of them wanted one clear statement of what the Peace Corps would be, but Sarge Shriver held the position that Peace — not Development . . .

Buffeted by controversy, an American institution faces an even deeper question: why it exists at all By Gal Beckerman May 15, 2011 Fifty years ago this spring, President John F. Kennedy breathed life into what had seemed at first like simply an ingenious campaign promise: to send idealistic young people – “America’s best resource” – out into the furthest villages and towns of the developing world to boost the image of the United States abroad. This was the Peace Corps. In the years since, more than 200,000 Americans have served as volunteers, and the Peace Corps itself has become more than just another government agency. It has become an idea, the perfect embodiment of America at its best: selfless and unobtrusive, trying to do good in the world by helping the less fortunate achieve their potential. This year the agency is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a plethora of parties, . . .

The Peace Corps has two basic problems with the issue of sexual assaults: 1) the attacks themselves; 2) the response from the agency. As for #1 the agency can help here by making Trainees and PCVs vividly aware of where they are in the world, and how to behave to protect themselves. But lets get real. This morning (Sunday) I picked up the New York Times and read where the I.M.F. Chief was arrested and accused of a sex attack at a midtown Manhattan hotel. He was pulled off an Air France first-class seat by the Port Authority police and booked for an alleged attempted rape. He was accused by a chambermaid maid at the exclusive Sofitel Hotel (where his suite of rooms cost $3,000 a night) of sexually assaulting her twice. So, you don’t have to be on some back alley in the middle of a Third World country and be in danger. But the issue that makes all . . .