This comes after a whistleblower came forward in January 2023 to say that they had been “physically attacked and sexually assaulted at CIA headquarters” by a fellow officer. Since that time, the bipartisan Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives has been conducting an investigation into the CIA’s handling of such cases.
“Over the course of the investigation, the Committee discovered that 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 report said.
During the course of its investigation, the committee studied a variety of materials, including over 4,000 pages that were handed in by the CIA, and spoke with over two dozen individuals who came forward to blow the whistle on their organization.
According to the report, lawmakers discovered “confusion and disorder in the process for reporting sexual assault and harassment” within the ranks of the CIA.
Additionally, victims “were aware of little to no accountability or punishment for the perpetrators of the assaults or harassment often because of an inadequate investigatory process,” the report stated.
They also discovered evidence that victims were dissuaded from coming forward about sexual assault and harassment charges due to the lack of effective anonymity barriers and that there was insufficient cooperation between law enforcement over these allegations.
Further internal flaws that were reportedly uncovered included a lack of training for CIA workers on how to recognize and report such occurrences, as well as the fact that the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office of the agency did not have the resources or the ability to aggressively fulfill its mission.
Under the lawmakers’s plan, “Individuals who report allegations of sexual harassment or sex-related offenses have the option to file a restricted report, which remains confidential and does not result in a formal investigation; or an unrestricted report, which shall require a serious incident report within eight days and results in a formal investigation.”
The committee has proposed reforms to be implemented by the CIA, including requiring the CIA director “to create uniform policies and training for all aspects of CIA’s response to allegations of sex-related offenses and sexual harassment,” and working to codify a process for assault and harassment claims within the agency to be reported.
Implementation of the reporting “requires the CIA Director to implement its provisions and consolidate all CIA’s responsibilities related to policy, training, and reporting sexual harassment or sex-related offenses into a single office within 180 days.”
The report states that the majority of the committee’s proposed provisions became law as a result of the National Defense Authorization Act’s signing into law in late December.
A CIA spokesperson responded to The Epoch Times’s request for comment, saying “We take the issue of sexual assault and harassment extremely seriously, and appreciate our partnership with the Committee on drafting the legislation which enabled us to expand our Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Prevention Office and provide additional support to officers.
“We are absolutely committed to fostering a safe, respectful workplace environment for our employees and have taken significant steps to ensure that, both by bolstering our focus on prevention and strengthening the Agency’s handling of these issues when they arise.”
