Sexual assaults on peace corps

Leo Cecchini. We should all listen to what Stan has to say. There is no doubt that ABC News and congressional investigators are exaggerating and distorting the issue. The trouble is that it sounds as if most of the victims or at least a large number were raped.

F ederal watchdogs say they face serious challenges overseeing sexual assault allegations among Peace Corps volunteers, raising questions about whether the Peace Corps can be held accountable for caring for victims and keeping them safe. Now the inspector general for Peace Corps, who is tasked with ensuring Peace Corps is following the law, says she is missing key records she needs to oversee the agency. Over the coming months, she says she will face major challenges reviewing scores of sexual assault cases. The Peace Corps says that it is upholding its legal obligations by restricting access to the documents. The agency says that privacy concerns can prevent volunteers from reporting their assaults. Those records will test how the Peace Corps deals with its hundreds of sexual assaults reported each year.

In , Peace Corps volunteer Kate Puzey was found on the porch of her hut with her throat slit shortly after she reported to authorities a colleague she suspected of molesting girls they had taught in the West African village. After a two-year legislation campaign led by congressional Republicans, President Obama signed into law the Kate Puzey Act to grant whistleblower protection, improve treatment of sexual assault victims and implement preventive training and education at the Peace Corps. Holder Jr. Holder himself. A former inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security delayed potentially damning reports about scandals that had been covered up and workers who had been punished for speaking out, a Senate report uncovered this week.

All rights reserved. In , a year into her service, she was riding her bike home from work when she was dragged into the bushes and sexually assaulted by a man who had been following her. Jill Hoxmeier is shown here with children in the town where she was posted. She told ABC News she gave up seeking counseling after the attack via the Peace Corps because the process was cumbersome and the Peace Corps did not provide adequate assistance. She was sexually assaulted by her host mother's brother, who was also her colleague's boyfriend, while in the office on a Friday.