Friday, May 20, 2011

[Peace Corps news] Peace Corps criticized over handling of PCV rape cases

The Peace Corps has been heavily criticized in recent weeks over its treatment of Peace Corps Volunteers who are victims of rape and other forms of sexual assault. A front page article in The New York Times detailed several complaints against the agency's handling of such cases, citing a 'blame the victim' culture.

Hearings were held on the controversy, before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The National Peace Corps Association, an RCPV advocacy group with which Friends of Guinea is affiliated, live blogged the Congressional hearings and has other information on PCV safety. Those can be found here.

1 comment:

Brian said...

MOFYC blog reported: Further, I'm reading the excellent book When the World Calls: The Inside Story of the Peace Corps and its First Fifty Years by Stanley Meisler.

The book cites a 2002 General Accounting Office investigation which noted that while *reported* incidence of rape and other major sexual assaults against PCVs decreased 20 percent from 1991 to 2000, a 1998 survey revealed that women were not reporting 60 percent of rape cases to the Peace Corps.