At IPS, Lacy MacAuley writes:
The hotel worker IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn allegedly sexually assaulted likely suffered in her home country as a result of IMF policies, like so many of the world’s poor.
Last month, I helped lead a march of hundreds of people to protest what we consider to be the International Monetary Fund’s criminal behavior during its yearly spring summit with the World Bank. Along with others, I raised my voice to say, “Arrest the IMF!”
Now, Strauss-Kahn is in a jail cell. According to witnesses and other evidence, he sexually assaulted a female hotel worker in a shockingly violent act in a posh suite at the Manhattan Sofitel hotel. When the worker he allegedly attacked bravely broke free, Strauss-Kahn fled the scene, leaving behind personal items such as his mobile phone. The worker, who is an immigrant from the West African nation of Guinea, immediately told others what had happened to her. Law enforcement personnel caught up with him at JFK airport and pulled him off of the airplane minutes before his flight to Paris was scheduled to depart.
While the alleged details are shocking, it’s no surprise to me that an IMF chief would exhibit violent, sociopathic behavior. After all, the IMF’s austerity policies have assaulted poor countries for years.
To read the remainder of the story visit IPS. Also see The IMF: Violating Women since 1945 by Christine Ahn and Kavita Ramdas at Foreign Policy in Focus.