Jessica Smochek
Former Peace Corps Volunteer
Jessica Smochek served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Bangladesh in 2004. The following is excerpted from Smochek’s May 11, 2011, testimony before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on the Peace Corps at 50. I am a former Peace Corps volunteer and a Peace Corps rape survivor. In 2004, I was 23 years old. Fresh out of college, I joined the Peace Corps, an organization I admired for its noble ideals, and set off for Bangladesh. The Peace Corps said we might experience harassment during our posting but that it just took some getting used to. This…
