<p>Forgive if this was already posted. With the tough job market many kids are looking at the Peace Corps as a way to ride out the recession and have some interesting experiences. Apparently for women there are real dangers in going to foreign countries. 100’s of rapes and even murder.</p>
<p><a href=“http://abcnews.go.com/blotter/peace_corps[/url]”>http://abcnews.go.com/blotter/peace_corps</a></p>
<p>Thank you for posting this- as the mother of a young woman who is interested in countries where women are 2nd class citizens- I appreciate hearing up to date info, especially since they are generally assigned solo positions.</p>
<p>Yes, the Peace Corps is a dangerous and very difficult assignment. And it’s not only for women–brown-skinned people serving in Eastern Europe and parts of Asia can face a lot of issues. I worked with two men who were severely beaten in Russia (that office has since closed for other reasons… still waiting for my paycheck from the CIA, is all I can say).</p>
<p>When I was in Peace Corps, we weren’t yet at war in Afghanistan, and it was nearly as dangerous as the military to join the Peace Corps (obviously now the military is in a much more dangerous position). But that’s why I’m doubly proud to have served my country in that way. It’s not a walk in the park, but it was totally worth it.</p>
<p>A friend of Ds spent three years in Azerbaijan- my D wants to go to Turkey.
She also is interested in journalism and has been sending me articles of journalists who have been arrested in Turkey- I am afraid she sees it as a challenge.</p>
<p>My D is currently finishing up her medical exams for the Peace Corps. She brushes aside the safety issues, claiming they take better care of their people than the ABC report says. Hmmm? Like now, not when all this was happening? </p>
<p>I’m to the point where I wish she would marry, buy a house in the 'burbs, and give me 2.3 grandchildren.</p>
<p>Thanks for posting this, barrons.</p>
<p>Why is this not surprising? The Peace Corps does as other public and private organizations everywhere do. When things go wrong, their first action is to hunker down and cover their proverbial asses. It’s well documented that when fellow troops victimize women who join the military, they get little support from higher up ([Sexual</a> Assault Permeates U.S. Armed Forces - CBS Evening News - CBS News](<a href=“http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/17/eveningnews/main4872713.shtml]Sexual”>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/17/eveningnews/main4872713.shtml)), so realistically why would anyone expect another government agency to be any different? And, realistically, when female PC volunteers are posted to a misogynistic society such as Bangladesh, the fact that they are official representatives of the US government does not confer protection from local criminals and their corrupt government and police officials. Why would anyone think they’d be treated any differently than the local women?</p>
<p>I researched this a few years ago for son. I then suggested working in the US to him. Most Peace Corp deaths had to do with car acccidents. I did google peace corps and homicides. Not a pretty picture</p>
<p>DD is in the PC. They do extensive in country training…and part of that is safety.</p>
<p>the peace corps sends people to underdeveloped parts of the world… it is dangerous to walk through many places in the US at night, obviously it is only worse in third world countries.</p>
<p>no training is going to help you if you are attacked by violent persons (especially if they are armed, as they might well be in some of the peace corps locations). Obviously the training should help you stay out of bad situations, but you can’t always help it.</p>
<p>Most Peace Corp deaths had to do with car acccidents.</p>
<p>I can believe it- when D was in Ghana she fell into a drainage ditch ( they are all over- about 2 1/2’ deep.) & she was walking.</p>
<p>When she was in India- she said the roads were madhouses- & she drove! ( she doesn’t have a license)
She said you just have to know the rules of the road.
Cows come first.</p>
<p>My SIL and another friend were in the Peace Corps. Both of them became quite ill due to water quality issues in Paraguay and Benin were they were based. My SIL also had some personal health issues which would have probably flared up even if she was in the US, but was a huge issue being in rural Paraguay.</p>
<p>PC (and I believe this is everywhere) prohibits volunteers from driving. Of course, this doesn’t help them if someone ELSE is driving and they get hit. They are told to take (the somewhat unreliable) public transportation as their means of getting around. When in the cities, they are TOLD not to come alone, always to be in at least pairs. </p>
<p>No,this doesn’t make it 100% safe, but it’s not 100% safe anywhere these days. </p>
<p>We do worry about our daughter…she is far away and in a third world country with few amenities. BUT we are very proud that she made the decision to join the Peace Corps. She is very much enjoying her experience, and part of that is learning to live in a third world country. It’s not easy but it’s rewarding.</p>
<p>My older d. at 17 worked in rural south India, and traveled in Cambodia and Thailand. My younger one has worked in poor sections of Amman, Jordan, in south India, and studied in Cairo, and will likely be in South Africa this summer. No problems in any of them.</p>
<p>Sadly, I think it is statistically more dangerous for women (in terms of rape and sexual assault) to spend time around white American soldiers abroad than among the locals in the Peace Corps.</p>
<p>My friend’s daughter went to Africa with the PC to teach in a school for girls. She taught there for one semester. After an incident in the small community the PC volunteer was quickly reassigned to a new area. Neither she nor the PC provided details to the family about the incident.
Only after she arrived back home after completing her PC experience did her parents find out that the incident involved their daughter (rape) and that this was a well known perpetrator. He did not face criminal charges.</p>
<p>A thousand reported rapes of young women in the last decade for the Peace Corps.</p>
<p>[Women</a> Raped While in the Peace Corps - ABC News](<a href=“http://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/women-raped-peace-corps-12621212]Women”>http://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/women-raped-peace-corps-12621212)</p>
<p>How many other women didn’t report assaults or intimidation?</p>
<p>I have a relative who is getting ready to go in the next few months into the Peace Corps. It is a concern, with the way the PC has dealt with this issue in the past.</p>
<p>I would be ballistic if i had found out after the fact that my child had been assaulted- not to mention sexually assaulted-yet I was given no knowledge of what was being done for her and if she was permitted to return home.</p>
<p>Agreed, Emerald.</p>
<p>Wow, just wow! </p>
<p>These women and men are so brave and have had to endure so much. It appalls me that they are not given support and protection from the Peace Corp. I am so sorry to hear how many have suffered and am very upset that they do not treat the victims and their families better. 
Very, very sad, as these are amazing young people!</p>
<p>Zapfino, to say that Bangladesh is a misogynistic society is a strong statement. I wonder what you base this on.</p>
<p>This?</p>
<p>Taj Hashmi discusses misogyny in relation to Muslim culture, and Bangladesh specifically, in the book Popular Islam and Misogyny: A Case Study of Bangladesh.</p>