Nearly one-third of CIA employees have experienced inappropriate sexual conduct at work at least once during their careers, according to a survey conducted by the agency. This survey, the first of its kind, was shared exclusively with CNN.
This report suggests that the CIA is currently going through its own “#MeToo moment,” referring to the global movement against workplace sexual harassment that gained momentum in 2017. The movement became especially prominent after the high-profile conviction of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
CIA Chief Operating Officer Maura Burns, recently acknowledged the issue and said, “We are not where we need to be, and I don’t need a survey to tell me that.”
The voluntary survey received responses from about a quarter of the agency’s workforce. Of those who participated, 28% reported encountering a sexually hostile work environment at least once during their time at the CIA. Within just the past year, 9% said they had experienced such an instance.
These numbers are only slightly higher than the national average for similar workplaces and lower than those reported within the U.S. military. However, there have been two specific cases that reflect a “deep-rooted cultural problem” within the CIA.
In one case, a CIA officer, who had been stationed in Europe until recently, was accused of knowingly infecting at least five women with a sexually transmitted disease. Despite these allegations, the officer is still employed at the CIA headquarters, awaiting the results of an investigation.
In a separate incident, a female contractor accused a senior CIA officer of coercing her into sexual relations. She alleges that he would visit her home while armed and handed her a knife at CIA premises as a form of intimidation. As per sources, the officer in question has since been fired, though he had been working at the agency prior to his dismissal.
There have been legal consequences for some CIA personnel. Just last month, a former CIA officer, Brian Jeffrey Raymond, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. His charges include sexual abuse, coercion, and taking obscene photographs. Raymond had admitted to raping four women, sexually abusing six others, and photographing 28 female victims while he was stationed in several Latin American countries over the span of more than ten years.
To address this growing problem, Maura Burns has created the Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention Office (SHARP). In a town hall meeting on September 25, Burns, alongside SHARP leader Dr. Taleta Jackson, informed CIA employees about the steps they can take to report sexual harassment, while still protecting their covert ids and classified information. “Go call the police. The cover issue, we will fix, don’t worry about that,” Burns told the employees.
However, one victim claimed in a June complaint that she was instructed by CIA management to lie to the police about both her and her attacker’s connection to the agency. The woman said that she was told that if she disclosed the assault happened on CIA property, she could be charged with mishandling classified information.
