2011.05.19: May 19, 2011: Honduras RPCV Tracey Lake sheds light on the issue of sexual assault
Peace Corps Online:
Peace Corps News:
Library:
Peace Corps: Sexual Assault and Harassment:
Sexual Assault and Harassment: Newest Stories:
2011.05.19: May 19, 2011: Honduras RPCV Tracey Lake sheds light on the issue of sexual assault
Honduras RPCV Tracey Lake sheds light on the issue of sexual assault
She says she never felt unsafe and got used to listening to the needs of the community and the community's leaders. Later, she listened to something else, stories from fellow volunteers about what they experienced. One woman was drinking with her host father and couldn't remember how she got from that moment to this one. Tracey tells us, "She woke up aware of being raped in the back of a pickup truck. She closed her eyes and said oh my God, this can't be happening, opened her eyes again and it was finished." Tracey says she empathizes with the victims but says everyone she knew that had been victimized broke one of the rules. Specifically two, the first, no drinking. The second, not to go out at night. She says alcohol a problem. She also believes it's a heavy burden for a twenty-something to understand the risk of breaking the rules. However, she says the Peace Corps did a lot to ensure their safety. Tracey calls the training extensive and says they played out many scenarios to teach people how to handle all types of situations. One situation that was not addressed was rape. "I was part of a training team that helped train people coming in after me and I didn't train anybody on what to do if you were raped." She says because volunteers are placed in rural towns, there are no rape kits. Tracey told us she'd be surprised if even the big cities hours away had rape kits.
Honduras RPCV Tracey Lake sheds light on the issue of sexual assault
Former Peace Corps volunteer sheds light on the issue of sexual assault
by NATASHA RYAN / KING 5 News
Posted on May 19, 2011 at 10:46 PM
SEATTLE -- Last week the nation watched as rape victims talked about the Peace Corps ignoring and sometimes hiding the crime. This week we spoke to a Seattle woman who knows a rape victim.
Tracey Lake loved her time in Honduras. While there she became a part of the community, her host family even adopting her as one of their own. "They made this sign for me. It says Tracey Martinez." Martinez was their last name.
She says she never felt unsafe and got used to listening to the needs of the community and the community's leaders. Later, she listened to something else, stories from fellow volunteers about what they experienced. One woman was drinking with her host father and couldn't remember how she got from that moment to this one.
Tracey tells us, "She woke up aware of being raped in the back of a pickup truck. She closed her eyes and said oh my God, this can't be happening, opened her eyes again and it was finished."
Tracey says she empathizes with the victims but says everyone she knew that had been victimized broke one of the rules. Specifically two, the first, no drinking. The second, not to go out at night. She says alcohol a problem. She also believes it's a heavy burden for a twenty-something to understand the risk of breaking the rules. However, she says the Peace Corps did a lot to ensure their safety.
Tracey calls the training extensive and says they played out many scenarios to teach people how to handle all types of situations. One situation that was not addressed was rape.
"I was part of a training team that helped train people coming in after me and I didn't train anybody on what to do if you were raped." She says because volunteers are placed in rural towns, there are no rape kits. Tracey told us she'd be surprised if even the big cities hours away had rape kits.
She hopes future volunteers aren't discouraged because she had a wonderful experience. " A truck drives by and I hear "Hola Tracey!" and it brought tears to my eyes because I had been gone like six or seven months."
Peace Corps leaders say new policies are in place, so victims voices are never drowned out again.
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: May, 2011; Peace Corps Honduras; Directory of Honduras RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Honduras RPCVs; Sexual Assault and Harassment
When this story was posted in June 2011, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| Peace Corps: The Next Fifty Years As we move into the Peace Corps' second fifty years, what single improvement would most benefit the mission of the Peace Corps? Read our op-ed about the creation of a private charitable non-profit corporation, independent of the US government, whose focus would be to provide support and funding for third goal activities. Returned Volunteers need President Obama to support the enabling legislation, already written and vetted, to create the Peace Corps Foundation. RPCVs will do the rest. |
| How Volunteers Remember Sarge As the Peace Corps' Founding Director Sargent Shriver laid the foundations for the most lasting accomplishment of the Kennedy presidency. Shriver spoke to returned volunteers at the Peace Vigil at Lincoln Memorial in September, 2001 for the Peace Corps 40th. "The challenge I believe is simple - simple to express but difficult to fulfill. That challenge is expressed in these words: PCV's - stay as you are. Be servants of peace. Work at home as you have worked abroad. Humbly, persistently, intelligently. Weep with those who are sorrowful, Care for those who are sick. Serve your wives, serve your husbands, serve your families, serve your neighbors, serve your cities, serve the poor, join others who also serve," said Shriver. "Serve, Serve, Serve. That's the answer, that's the objective, that's the challenge." |
Read the stories and leave your comments.
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.
Story Source: King5
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Honduras; SA
PCOL47053
23