Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams on Wednesday vowed there would be reform of the agency’s current sexual assault policy, after a day of emotional testimony on Capitol Hill by victims. The Peace Corps, the government-funded volunteer program started in 1961, has been accused of “blaming the victim” in many of the cases—and even created a training tape where victims of sexual assault describe what they did to deserve the attack. “Rather than feel safe and supported, I felt belittled and betrayed,” said one victim, Jess Smochek, after she was gang-raped by several men in Bangladesh in 2002.
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