At 24, Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet was a volunteer teaching secondary school English in Western Samoa. She was also grappling with the decision of whether to report her own sexual assault — the assailant a prominent member of the community in which she worked.
“Being a model Peace Corps volunteer didn’t include being a victim,” she shared at a Peace Corps-organized event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., in recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Hessler-Radelet didn’t report the three instances of sexual assault, too afraid she would be removed from the community and the work she believed in. Looking back, she’s “baffled” by her decision to stay silent.
Read more stories about the Peace Corps:
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About the author
Kelli Rogers@kellierin
Kelli Rogers has worked as an Associate Editor and Southeast Asia Correspondent for Devex, with a particular focus on gender. Prior to that, she reported on social and environmental issues from Nairobi, Kenya. Kelli holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, and has reported from more than 20 countries.