Archive - December 13, 2021

  Please note: This article was posted on the Peace Corps website on December 2nd.  They are accepting comments until Thursday, December 16th.  Please accept my apology for the late posting. Here is the link: https://www.peacecorps.gov/news/library/peace-corps-seeks-public-input-as-agency-develops-roadmap-to-strengthen-its-sexual-assault-risk-reduction-and-response-program/ Here is the notice: Peace Corps Seeks Public Input as Agency Develops Roadmap to Strengthen its Sexual Assault Risk Reduction and Response Program December 2, 2021 Today, the Peace Corps announced the next phase of its work to strengthen the agency’s Sexual Assault Risk Reduction and Response (SARRR) program. From December 2 to December 16, the public is invited to submit input and feedback about the Peace Corps’ efforts to enhance systems that support sexual assault risk mitigation and provide care to survivors. Following the release of the 2021 Sexual Assault Advisory Council (SAAC) report in November, Peace Corps leadership is conducting a comprehensive review of the recommendations outlined in the report and preparing . . .

  Nicole Jacobson, who served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia, said she was repeatedly groped by the father in her host family, but Peace Corps staff waited more than a year before pulling her from the site. Nicole Jacobson was far from home and feeling alone, placed by the Peace Corps in a remote village in Zambia with a host father who had five wives and a disturbing interest in the young American volunteer. The man routinely leered at her while touching himself, Jacobson said. He grabbed and groped her, once bursting into her hut and pushing her up against the wall. Yet when she called Peace Corps staff to report him, Jacobson said, staff repeatedly dismissed her concerns. “According to them, I just didn’t understand the situation,” she said, adding that one Peace Corps staff member told her, “It just means he likes you.” Jacobson said staff . . .