'Angels of peace' end up as victims of rape
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 as a rape victim after being brutalised 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 counsellor implied that she was to blame for the attack.
For years she kept quiet, feeling "ashamed and embarrassed and guilty", The New York Times reports.
Today, 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."
Founded in 1961 by President John F Kennedy, the Peace Corps has 8,655 volunteers and trainees, as young as 21 and as old as 86, serving in 77 countries. For most, service is, as the agency's Web site boasts, "a life-defining leadership experience."
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.
On Wednesday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee will convene a hearing to examine what its chairwoman, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Republican of Florida, called "serious crimes" committed against Peace Corps volunteers, including murder; in announcing the hearing, her office cited reports of "gross mismanagement of sexual assault complaints."
Lois Puzey, whose daughter Kate was murdered in 2009 while posted in Benin, will testify.
So will Smochek, now a board member of First Response Action, a fledgling advocacy group founded by another former volunteer, Casey Frazee.
Frazee was sexually assaulted in South Africa in 2009 and came home, she said, determined to not "let the Peace Corps toss me off like I was an isolated incident."
In an interview on Monday, the director of the Peace Corps, Aaron S Williams, said he was committed to revamping the agency's practices to create a more "victim-centered approach."
William insisted that it was safe for women to serve in the Peace Corps. "We do not place Peace Corps volunteers in unsafe environments," he claimed.
But he said the agency must modernise its procedures to "make sure that we provide compassionate care" to crime victims.
Already, Williams has made some changes, including hiring a "victim's advocate" who began work on Monday and signing an agreement with a nationally-known rape crisis group to re-examine his organisation's training and policies.
The changes reflect the work of Frazee, who has spent the last 18 months tracking down Peace Corps sexual assault survivors by reaching out through social networking sites and her blog.
Last year, her work attracted the attention of the ABC News program "20/20," which ran a segment on the women in January.
In recent months, Frazee, 28, has collected more than two dozen affidavits from other women, who have shared stories that Williams called "tragic."
In interviews and documents, they paint a picture of what many call a "blame the victim" culture at the Peace Corps.
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 as a rape victim after being brutalised 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 counsellor implied that she was to blame for the attack.
For years she kept quiet, feeling "ashamed and embarrassed and guilty", The New York Times reports.
Today, 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."
Founded in 1961 by President John F Kennedy, the Peace Corps has 8,655 volunteers and trainees, as young as 21 and as old as 86, serving in 77 countries. For most, service is, as the agency's Web site boasts, "a life-defining leadership experience."
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.
On Wednesday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee will convene a hearing to examine what its chairwoman, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Republican of Florida, called "serious crimes" committed against Peace Corps volunteers, including murder; in announcing the hearing, her office cited reports of "gross mismanagement of sexual assault complaints."
Lois Puzey, whose daughter Kate was murdered in 2009 while posted in Benin, will testify.
So will Smochek, now a board member of First Response Action, a fledgling advocacy group founded by another former volunteer, Casey Frazee.
Frazee was sexually assaulted in South Africa in 2009 and came home, she said, determined to not "let the Peace Corps toss me off like I was an isolated incident."
In an interview on Monday, the director of the Peace Corps, Aaron S Williams, said he was committed to revamping the agency's practices to create a more "victim-centered approach."
William insisted that it was safe for women to serve in the Peace Corps. "We do not place Peace Corps volunteers in unsafe environments," he claimed.
But he said the agency must modernise its procedures to "make sure that we provide compassionate care" to crime victims.
Already, Williams has made some changes, including hiring a "victim's advocate" who began work on Monday and signing an agreement with a nationally-known rape crisis group to re-examine his organisation's training and policies.
The changes reflect the work of Frazee, who has spent the last 18 months tracking down Peace Corps sexual assault survivors by reaching out through social networking sites and her blog.
Last year, her work attracted the attention of the ABC News program "20/20," which ran a segment on the women in January.
In recent months, Frazee, 28, has collected more than two dozen affidavits from other women, who have shared stories that Williams called "tragic."
In interviews and documents, they paint a picture of what many call a "blame the victim" culture at the Peace Corps.
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