Central Intelligence Agency fired a female employee who allegedly experienced sexual assault back in 2022.
Earlier this week, the Central Intelligence Agency fired a female employee who allegedly experienced sexual assault back in 2022.
According to the 36-year-old survivor, the sexual assault occurred in a stairwell at the CIA’s Langley, Virginia headquarters. She testified at a closed-door congressional hearing after her report was received by law enforcement.
However, the woman believes the CIA retaliated against her after she came forward. She stated that she experienced “slut shaming” and additional unwarranted criticism during the agency’s performance reviews. Because of this, she filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the CIA.
According to the lawsuit, the agency released crucial personal information during the persecution of Ashkan Bayatpour, a previous fellow CIA trainee that was convicted of assaulting her. In her testimony last summer, the woman recounted traumatic details: Bayatpour allegedly tightened a scarf around her neck and forced himself upon her.
“He made a face like he was trying to really hurt me,” she stated. “That face, that’s what stays with me to this day. That’s the hardest part.”
Bayatpour, a 39-year-old former Navy intelligence officer, brushed the incident off as “a joke that didn’t land the way it was intended to land.”
Although he is no longer employed at the CIA, he remained in his position at the agency for months after he was convicted in August of “misdemeanor assault and battery, sentenced to six months probation and ordered to surrender any firearms.”
Less than six months after she filed the lawsuit, the survivor was fired.
According to her attorney, Kevin Carroll, “the CIA unlawfully ended a young woman’s career only because she had the moral courage, lacking in her managers, to stand up and be a witness about her sexual assault.”
He cites the agency’s “festering workplace sexual violence problem” as the key impediment regarding retention of young female employees.
After the young woman came forward, at least 24 more female employees reported incidents of sexual misconduct. They stated that these instances occurred in both the U.S. and abroad, and were intentionally covered up.
When asked for a statement, the CIA denied any wrongdoing and stated that they maintain a strict policy against sexual misconduct. They regarded the accusations as “factually inaccurate,” and did not offer any further explanation.
The unidentified survivor is now the recipient of endless gratitude, as her bravery in speaking out against the renowned agency became a catalyst for other female employees who experienced similar mistreatment.
Other accusations against the agency include “lewd remarks about sexual fantasies at after-work happy hours,” and an instance when “a senior manager allegedly showed up at a subordinate’s house at night with a firearm demanding sex.” Some of the alleged incidents date back years and occurred during “risky covert missions overseas,” as well as at various CIA headquarters.
U.S. senators Mark Warner and Marco Rubio did not respond to requests for comment, although they are tasked with investigating reforms and leading the congressional inquiry.
It remains unclear whether the CIA’s termination of this survivor will prompt further action.
Authors: Alexis Kabat and Andy Goldwasser
