July 26, 2002 - New Jersey Journal: Report says Peace Corps needs to better protect volunteers as assaults against them rise

Peace Corps Online: Peace Corps News: Headlines: Peace Corps Headlines - 2002: 07 July 2002 Peace Corps Headlines: July 26, 2002 - New Jersey Journal: Report says Peace Corps needs to better protect volunteers as assaults against them rise

By Admin1 (admin) on Saturday, July 27, 2002 - 9:54 pm: Edit Post

Report says Peace Corps needs to better protect volunteers as assaults against them rise





Read and comment on this story from the New Jersey Journal on the GAO Report issued this week on Safety and Security of volunteers. The full GAO report is at:

GAO Report on Peace Corps Initiatives for Addressing Safety and Security Challenges Hold Promise, but Progress Should Be Assessed

Read the story at:

Report says Peace Corps needs to better protect volunteers as assaults against them rise*

* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.



Report says Peace Corps needs to better protect volunteers as assaults against them rise

By LESLIE MILLER
The Associated Press
7/26/02 8:45 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Assaults against Peace Corps volunteers around the world have doubled in the past decade, according to congressional investigators.

And the Peace Corps' efforts to safeguard volunteers -- many of whom are young, white and female -- are not consistent, the General Accounting Office report said.

The report was requested by Rep. Martin Meehan, a Massachusetts Democrat who last year accused the Peace Corps of failing to keep track of one of his constituents, a 23-year-old volunteer who disappeared in Bolivia and was never found.

Peace Corps data showed assaults involving a weapon or serious injury rose to 17 per 1,000 years of volunteer service in 2000 from eight assaults per 1,000 volunteer years in 1991.

The data also showed major sexual assaults, including rape, fell to eight per 1,000 volunteer years in 2000 from 10 per 1,000 volunteer years in 1991.

Those numbers may mislead, though, because a recent survey of Peace Corps volunteers showed six of 10 rapes were not reported, the General Accounting Office report said.

There are about 7,000 Peace Corps volunteers, down from the agency's high of 15,000 in 1966.

Last year, 86 volunteers reported aggravated assaults, up from 20 in 1990. Fourteen said they had been raped, up from 11 in 1990, according to the Peace Corps.

President Bush wants to double the number of volunteers in the next five years, at a time when Americans living abroad can expect heightened danger.

The GAO said it isn't clear why crimes against volunteers have increased. It could be because the system for collecting crime data has improved.

Though the Peace Corps has evacuated more than 1,600 volunteers between 1993 and 2001, the report said some posts still had incomplete emergency plans. Nor does the Peace Corps know how long it would take to reach volunteers in case of emergency, the report said.

Since 23-year-old Walter Poirier's disappearance in Bolivia a year and a half ago, it's still unclear how often staff visits volunteers, the GAO said.

The staff person responsible for Poirier didn't see or speak to him for several months and failed to follow up after he couldn't find him, an earlier GAO report said.

Because the law forbids people from working for the Peace Corps for more than five years, agency staff are constantly reinventing the wheel, the report said. The GAO recommended the Peace Corps ask Congress to change the law.

The Peace Corps has since clarified the staff's responsibilities and requires them to document that they've done what they were supposed to. The agency is also hiring safety officers and begun daylong safety training for volunteers.

The GAO recommended the Peace Corps director develop a system to make sure those initiatives work.

Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., also requested the report.

------

On the Net:

General Accounting Office: http://www.gao.gov

Peace Corps: http://www.peacecorps.gov



Click on a link below for more stories on PCOL

Help the New Peace Corps Bill pass CongressFor the Peace Corps Fallen
Senator Dodd holds Hearings on New Peace Corps LegislationThe Debate over the Peace Corps Fund
Why the Peace Corps needs a Fourth GoalThe Peace Corps 40th plus one
The Case for Peace Corps IndependenceThe Controversy over Lariam
The Peace Corps and Homeland SecurityDirector Vasquez meets with RPCVs
RPCV Congressmen support Peace Corps' autonomyPeace Corps Expansion:  The Numbers Game?
When should the Peace Corps return to Afghanistan?Peace Corps Cartoons
RPCV Character on new Fox SitcomBush and JFK



Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Special Reports; Peace Corps - Safety and Security

PCOL729

.


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: