12 percent of Peace Corps, victims of crime

SOME  12 percent  of United States Peace Corps volunteers carrying out  social work in Panama were a victims of crime

The Corps records show that, of the 305 volunteers who came to Panama in 2015, 37 reported being the victim of a crime.

Sevent  percent,  of the victims were female.

65 percent of the incidents took place outside the area where the volunteers lived or carried out their social work, and in 43 percent of the cases the victims were alone at the time.

The most common crimes were robberies and thefts, which accounted for 32 of the 37 cases.

Currently, there are 207 United States Peace Corps volunteers working in Panama at jobs such as teaching English or working on projects in impoverished areas.

Since the Peace Corps established a program in Panama in 1963, 2,470 volunteers of the  organization, including a daughter of President George Bush  have worked in the country.

The Peace Corps, probably the best-known volunteer abroad program open to American citizens  was started by President Kennedy in 1961 as an outlet for Americans to help with international development and promote cross-cultural exchange.