Peace Corps 20/20 rant

So in a few minutes ABC's 20/20 is going to be on, with a segment on safety of Peace Corps volunteers. I haven't watched the whole thing, but they have clips online, and honestly, I'm a little aggravated.

It's HORRIBLE that some people have died and more have been sexually assaulted and raped -- that should NEVER happen to anyone. And maybe that particular PC program should have stepped in sooner. But don't blame the Peace Corps as a whole, or make the situation out to be worse than it is.

They say: "Over 900 PC volunteers have been sexually assaulted or raped in the last decade." That's sexual assault and rape put together -- the rape number is about 22 in the past decade. Yes, that's horrible. But let's look at the statistics. There are THOUSANDS of people joining PC every year, hundreds per country all across South and Central American, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and island nations. There are young women living on their own in a third world nation where they clearly stand out.

Being assaulted can happen anywhere --in the US too. Actually, looking at the numbers, it's practically more likely that you'll get sexually assaulted or raped living in the US. The numbers, all things considered, are as low as they could possibly be, unless Peace Corps placed a guard on every volunteer's back. Shit happens, especially when you sign up to live this kind of life. It's not Peace Corps' fault.

Also, like I said, every program is different. One young woman who was raped said that PC ignored her warnings and didn't let her change site. That is terrible, and that program needs to be looked at, but I know that that would never happen in PC Ecuador. Part of the reason they let me move so fast is that I felt unsafe in my old site. You say anything, ANYTHING about feeling scared or unsafe and they move you immediately, sometimes so immediately that you're not allowed to return to site to pick up your stuff. You're just gone. Our housing safety standards are extremely rigorous, sometimes to the point of impossibility -- your house must have bars on all the windows, can't be located anywhere near a bar or club or hangout, etc. It makes it hard to even find housing half the time. Plus we get weekly updates on possible dangers and the state of the country.

Shit happens everywhere, and it's terrible. A volunteer was sexually assaulted in Ecuador by armed men in a cab, while her male volunteer friend had mace sprayed in his eyes so he was blinded and could do nothing to stop them. I literally went hand to hand with a man with a kitchen knife, and have the scars to prove it. I sleep with a knife under my bed. Ecuador is dangerous. So is Africa, Asia, and the rest of South America. So is the United States. It's a dangerous world; don't blame Peace Corps for not being able to prevent every tragedy.

I genuinely believe that Peace Corps does the best it can with an inherently dangerous line of work. Not even necessarily because they care, which I'm sure they do, but because it's a government organization that is very visible to the public, and it's currently expanding. They can't afford bad press.

So, yeah. Watch the 20/20 segment if you like, I'm sure it's very informative and my heart goes out to the people who have endured such horrible experiences. Just take it with a grain of salt.