The CIA's handling of complaints of sexual misconduct within its ranks has come under fire from a congressional committee on Monday. The committee said that victims had been discouraged from coming forward and that they were aware that there was "little to no accountability or punishment for the perpetrators of the assaults or harassment." Following over two dozen closed-door interviews with whistleblowers and an examination of over 4,000 pages of documents, the House Intelligence Committee came to the conclusion that the CIA "failed to handle allegations of sexual assault and harassment within its workforce in the professional and uniform manner that such sensitive allegations warrant."
The bipartisan committee acknowledged the spy agency for its cooperation and referred to new law that tries to increase openness and gives victims more reporting choices, even if the eight-page report lacked details. Assuring a safe workplace is a priority, the CIA said in a statement to the AP that it has "taken significant steps to ensure that." The probe came about as a result of an overwhelming number of CIA complaints about sexual assault and what some survivors saw as an attempt to prevent them from coming forward by denying their privacy and claiming it would compromise national security.
Lewd comments about unwanted touching, sexual assaults, and dreams about sex were among the charges, according to an AP investigation from last year. In one instance, a senior boss reportedly demanded sex from a subordinate when he arrived at his home late at night with a gun. A Virginia jury convicted a CIA officer trainee guilty of beating a colleague with a scarf and attempting to kiss her in a stairway at the agency's headquarters last year. The victim lost her job earlier this year in what her lawyer said was a blatant act of retribution; the CIA refuted this claim. The woman's lawyer, Kevin Carroll, applauded the congressional findings. He requested that the CIA "cooperate more with local law enforcement investigations and prosecutions of sex crimes committed by Agency officers."
The bipartisan committee acknowledged the spy agency for its cooperation and referred to new law that tries to increase openness and gives victims more reporting choices, even if the eight-page report lacked details. Assuring a safe workplace is a priority, the CIA said in a statement to the AP that it has "taken significant steps to ensure that." The probe came about as a result of an overwhelming number of CIA complaints about sexual assault and what some survivors saw as an attempt to prevent them from coming forward by denying their privacy and claiming it would compromise national security.
Lewd comments about unwanted touching, sexual assaults, and dreams about sex were among the charges, according to an AP investigation from last year. In one instance, a senior boss reportedly demanded sex from a subordinate when he arrived at his home late at night with a gun. A Virginia jury convicted a CIA officer trainee guilty of beating a colleague with a scarf and attempting to kiss her in a stairway at the agency's headquarters last year. The victim lost her job earlier this year in what her lawyer said was a blatant act of retribution; the CIA refuted this claim. The woman's lawyer, Kevin Carroll, applauded the congressional findings. He requested that the CIA "cooperate more with local law enforcement investigations and prosecutions of sex crimes committed by Agency officers."
