Mentality We Need to Change

This month the 2008 Annual Report of Volunteer Safety was released. (You can view the full report here: 2008 Annual Report of Volunteer Safety)

The data is comparable to the previous year's report, however sexual assaults are still on the rise. There were 128 incidents of rape, attempted rape, major sexual assault and 'other' sexual assault reported to Peace Corps.

That is 128 incidents too many.

Part of my mission is to adjust the common mentality when looking at issues of rape and sexual assault. Rape is a vicious act where the perpetrator is at fault, not the survivor. Rape is a violation of the most intimate kind which affects a person's body and mind.

Keeping this in mind, the following paragraph from the report, on page 6 under the heading Rape/Attempted Rape, was personally quite shocking:

Often both the Volunteer and the offender have consumed alcohol prior to the assault, and the Volunteer is usually not accompanied by other friends or Volunteers. Although she is typically not physically injured, she often requires medical follow‐up and counseling following the assault. In most rapes, the offender is not arrested and the Volunteer does not intend to prosecute if the offender is apprehended.

-- 2008 Peace Corps Safety of the Volunteer Report

When someone is raped, it is a physical injury. Naturally, medical follow-up is necessary along with counseling. This wording worries me of the way that women (or men) are treated after incidents of rape. Rape is a physical injury and a violation. I am shocked that this report appears not to consider rape a physical injury.

The article includes two other hot button issues - the lack of prosecution and alcohol use. Those will be discussed in postings to come as they are very important issues that deserve stand-alone posts.

As always, I welcome your feedback.

In peace.

The Full Article

Below is the text of the article I wrote for the December 2009 WorldView magazine, a publication of the National Peace Corps Association, which I referenced in my last blog posting.

The Safety of the Volunteer 2007 report released by the Peace Corps Office of Safety and Security states that there were 253 incidents of rape, some form of physical or sexual assault, death threats or intimidation against Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) in 2007. That is roughly 3 percent of PCVs who served that year. When the statistics are compiled for 2009, I will, unfortunately, be among those numbers.

Earlier this year, while serving in Southern Africa, I was sexually assaulted by a man in my community. The Peace Corps Web site states, “The agency recognizes that Volunteers' daily safety is, for the most part, best assured when they are well integrated into the local community, valued and protected as extended family members.” Unfortunately, this system has a major flaw—when the attacker is also a well-integrated community member. My attacker was the brother of my host mother and the boyfriend of a co-worker at the NGO where I worked. Furthermore, he was a high-ranking official in the provincial branch of the country’s reigning political party. Going to the local authorities in the aftermath of the assault did not seem a safe option, as I feared retribution from my attacker.

After I reported this assault to Peace Corps, I was evacuated to the capital. My initial meeting with Peace Corps, subsequent to the attack, focused mostly on whether or not to report the assault to local authorities and developing a new site; I was not offered any medical attention or counseling. Having prior experience working with issues of domestic violence, sexual assault and rape, I tried to rely on my own strength to work through this situation, but a week after this meeting, I fell apart. The country director sent me out of the capital to visit PCVs and be “productive” during this transition period. I was visiting a fellow Volunteer in her rural village, her house surrounded by the all-too-common penetrable fence. I was afraid. I was scared of the shadows and I scowled at the people in the community, wondering why they had to stare at me. I feared that someone else would attack me.

I called the Peace Corps Medical Officer and requested to see a counselor. The PCMO told me that there was no budget for me to see a counselor and that while he would fight for me, I shouldn’t get my hopes up. Having trust in the organization that brought me halfway around the world, I choked out an “okay,” hung up the phone and cried. Since I was quickly unraveling without support from Peace Corps in-country, I decided to call the Office of Special Services in Washington, DC. I was connected to people who told me that there is always budget available for PCV health and safety and that the PCMO had spoken in error.

I began asking myself and fellow PCVs, what rights do I have as a Volunteer? How many times can I see a counselor? Can someone else speak on my behalf if I am too intimidated by Peace Corps? There is nothing in the Volunteer Handbook that addresses this and no one I asked—in Washington or in-country—could find any policy that references the rights of PCVs who experience sexual violence. I am not alone as a PCV who has been assaulted. I have heard from women in multiple countries who were not taken seriously, pushed out of their country of service or who were not offered counseling.

In the aforementioned report on volunteer safety released in 2007, the report states, “Trend analysis indicates that other sexual assault incidence rates have been increasing an average of 7 percent each year over the 10-year period.” While the report provides copious data, it is short on follow-up. Counseling, medical separation, interrupted service, treatment of PCVs in-country by staff, state-side support; these items are presumably left to another report.

Now back in the United States I have contacted Peace Corps to discuss implementing policies to protect PCVs in these situations. As of late October, as this article is being written, I am awaiting next steps from Peace Corps. I have also started a blog on this issue to mobilize support from members of the Peace Corps community.

While I am deeply disappointed at how my situation was handled and that my time in Peace Corps did not end the way I had ever envisioned, my situation is over. My hope is to catalyze changes that will help protect currently serving and future volunteers. My ideal outcomes, detailed on my blog, are:

* A Survivor Bill of Rights for PCVs who experience assault or sexual violence.
Training of in-country staff about issues of sexual violence, tailored to each post’s cultural atmosphere.

* A non-discrimination policy for survivors whether or not they press charges.

* Inclusion of the Survivor Bill of Rights in the Volunteer Handbook so the information is accessible to all PCVs.

* The designation of an Advocate to speak on behalf of the volunteer survivor.
More comprehensive training curriculum about sexual crimes including country-specific data.

* Comprehensive information and resources on the Peace Corps Web site for family and friends of PCVs.


As an organization that serves to promote peace and understanding in the world, it is my firm belief that Peace Corps should be a leader in handling sexual and physical violence.

Casey Frazee served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Southern Africa. To learn more about issues raised in this article or to add your voice to this initiative, visit http://firstresponseaction.blogspot.com or email her at firstresponseaction@gmail.com She welcomes discussion on how Peace Corps can position itself as a leader in combating sexual and physical violence.

One Big Step in This Journey of a Thousand Miles

I am proud to announce that an article I wrote for the National Peace Corps Association has been published in their recent quarterly magazine, WorldView. The magazine's audience is primarily Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs). WorldView reaches RPCVs from the early 1960s, when the program began, up to volunteers who are returning now.

The article outlines that 3% of Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) are affected by sexual assualt, rape, violent crime and death threats. It's difficult to have discussions where rape and death threats are at the forefront, but it has not been addressed to the satisfaction of many volunteer survivors. The 2007 Safety of the Volunteer reports that these types of crime have been on the rise 7% year over year for the last ten years. Yet, nothing has been done and PCVs continue to experience assaults and threats. I believe we can find a better way to manage this.

As with many sexual assaults in the United States, my assault was perpetrated by someone in the community who I knew. Below is an excerpt regarding community safety taken from the article I wrote for WorldView magazine.

Earlier this year, while serving in Southern Africa, I was sexually assaulted by a man in my community. The Peace Corps Web site states, “The agency recognizes that Volunteers' daily safety is, for the most part, best assured when they are well integrated into the local community, valued and protected as extended family members.” Unfortunately, this system has a major flaw—when the attacker is also a well-integrated community member.

My attacker was the brother of my host mother and the boyfriend of a co-worker at the NGO where I worked. Furthermore, he was a high-ranking official in the provincial branch of the country’s reigning political party. Going to the local authorities in the aftermath of the assault did not seem a safe option, as I feared retribution from my attacker.

The entire article should be available online soon. At this time, I am unable to upload the article to my blog to make it available for download. Please email firstresponseaction@gmail.com if you would like me to forward you a PDF of the article. (I am also in need of someone who is more technologically savvy than me to take this blog to the next level. I welcome anyone who is interesting in donating some of their technological skills to this important cause.)

If you would like to pledge your support - which can also be anonymous - please reply to this post or email me at firstresponseaction@gmail.com.

Thank you to all of you who have supported this important cause thus far. Your support and strength keep this (and me) going! The publishing of this article is another big step in this journey of a thousand miles and I thank you for taking these first steps with me!

I also extend my gratitude to Erica Burman at the National Peace Corps Association who thought enough about this issue to give it a wider audience. Thank you Erica. I am so appreciative.

Peace and Strength.