Every time I talk to a Peace Corps employee, I end up getting pissed. I end up getting pissed because first of all, you messed up big-time, Peace Corps. Second of all, the Peace Corps employee to whom I am talking cares more about the reputation of the organization for whom they work than they care about me. AND I'M THE PERSON HERE!!!
I am sick of Peace Corps trying to explain away the second trauma they did indeed cause me. I am sick of Peace Corps employees essentially not caring about me. Caring about me in a phone conversation would look something like this:
Me: The PCMO I called invalidated my experience as a victim of rape by the words she said to me when I called her.
Peace Corps Employee: I cannot even imagine what that felt like to have someone say that to you. I am so sorry for what you experienced. We absolutely one hundred percent want to change what we are doing, and we would like for you to give us feedback so that we can one hundred percent improve the way we treat survivors of sexual assault in the future.
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That would be so AMAZING if a Peace Corps employee said that to me. I am not a lawyer, but I don't even think that that statement has liability written in it (not sure though).
My point is that Peace Corps employees could be SO MUCH more compassionate in the way that they talk to PCV/RPCV's who reveal they are survivors of sexual assault. And it would be AMAZING if they did.
It wouldn't take away the second trauma that the PCMO caused me, and it wouldn't change how I overall feel about the Peace Corps. However, it would allow me to finish a conversation with a Peace Corps employee without being PISSED.
Thank You, for sharing this. I have read through your post and I am absolutely appalled at how you were treated. I 100% agree with you that men are the ones who need to be educated about rape, not just women trying to avoid something perpetrated by someone else.I hope that you sharing your experience will change he way peace corps responds to survivors.
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