By David Swanson
I just interviewed Tracy Barker for an hour.
You can find the clip at http://www.thepeoplespeakradio.net/audio/2008/#february
She is one in a string of sexual assault and harrassment victims who suffered what they did while employed by Halliburton in Iraq.
Her particular story is the worst I’ve heard and far worse than I had thought before conducting the interview. She was initially harassed sexually in the Green Zone in Baghdad. When she reported on her supervisor to a Halliburton ethics line, they simply told her supervisor.
When she transfered to Basra the environment was intensely worse and the sexual harassment constant. She attempted to report to Halliburton;s human resources office in Kuwait but was caught and brought back.
She was assaulted by a State Department employee who attempted to rape her. She was then denied medical attention and locked up and cut off from outside communication. She was offered sleeping pills to help her anxiety, and then woke up with her supervisor naked on top of her.
No one in any of these cases has been prosecuted criminally. No one has been disciplined by the State Department or Halliburton.
The State Department offered Barker money (our money!) to drop a civil suit, which she refused.
Halliburton has forced a civil suit into arbitration.
A caller to the program asked why Congress doesn’t do something. But how can Congress compel the Justice Department to do anything, while impeachment is off the table?