Women rally to raise $600K to solve rape kit crisis

A jubilant Kym Worthy, who six years ago stood alone in sounding the alarm about abandoned rape kits found in a police warehouse, wasn't alone Tuesday. She stood with nearly 100 black women who pledged to raise more than $600,000 to test kits and pay for the ensuing investigations.

It has been a long road for Worthy — from fighting for every dollar to help rape victims to joining a historic gathering in front of the Detroit Association of Women's Clubs headquarters Tuesday. The panorama of leadership featured some of Detroit's most powerful women — foundation heads, elected officials, nonprofit managers and CEOs.

This moment in time might be remembered as one of many when Detroiters — in this case women — rose up in self-reliance to solve a critical problem.

Black women raise money and awareness for rape kits

"This is incredible,” said Worthy, the Wayne County prosecutor. "This is a particularly important point when so many African-American women from across this city who are in leadership roles, who are elected officials, who are owners of businesses big and small, university staffs, professors, everyone you can imagine, has come together in this effort."

The coalition of women’s groups, called the African American 490 Challenge, has asked sororities, nonprofits, community groups, service organizations, book clubs and any other bodies to raise money in multiples of $490 — the cost to test a single rape kit.

“Since we began, it has been difficult, but getting much easier as we amass support," Worthy said. "Women from all walks of life, suburban and city, have stepped up to help. But I’m particularly pleased by this effort, all these powerful women and the thousands of women they represent.”

Worthy, who called the coalition the largest community response to solving rapes since the kits were discovered, praised the philanthropy of women — and men — across the region now that the rape kits are getting the attention they deserve.

Michigan gets $7.5M to help clear untested rape kits

Kim Trent, a member of the Wayne State Board of Governors and a victim of an unreported sexual assault, said this is just the beginning.

"This is just us coming together to tell the world that the work now starts," Trent said. "We know that there is so much more that needs to be done.”

Worthy said that of the more than 10,000 rape kits that have been tested, 2,616 corresponded to DNA in CODIS, or Combined DNA Index System. Of those matches in this national crime database, authorities identified 549 suspected serial rapists. More than 80% of the victims were African American, and a fifth were under age 16.

“What’s even more outstanding, if you can believe it, is that our rape kits in one city in one county in one state in this nation have tentacles ... to not only sexual assaults but to other crimes in 38 other states,” she said.

Thirty-eight states.

Testing abandoned rape kits just the first step

Worthy said her office has 149 active investigations, but 1,644 cases waiting for investigators to be assigned.

“It’s a critical first step for the remaining kits to be tested, but the work is not done until we investigate and prosecute each one of these …," she said. "That’s why we’re raising money."

Worthy’s office has had 25 convictions so far. She expects her office will wrap up the rape cases in three to five years.

The effort comes less than a year after the Michigan Women’s Foundation, which Worthy approached for help, founded the Enough Said campaign to raise $10 million to test rape kits and pay for investigations of rape that had gone ignored. The 490 Challenge is working through Enough Said and was begun by women's advocates Trent, Darci McConnell and Maureen Stapleton.

"The mission of this is to protect, defend, mobilize, educate and empower African-American women," Stapleton said, "by bringing awareness and resources to support those who have been silenced by sexual assault and the lack of justice. We will not stop until we get this done.”

Trent challenged the women present and those watching to “go back to your groups. … We have so many people up here, so many different groups and efforts. Go back and humbly ask them to support us. And black men have asked, ‘How come we can’t be involved?' Look out, brothers. We’re coming to you!"

"It's powerful. At various points in your life, you have to take a stand," said Leslie Graham Andrews, director of community relations for Quicken Loans. "I've never been a victim of sexual assault, God bless. But that doesn't mean I can't empathize with those who have. So I'm standing with them strong. I'm pulling people with me. We can solve this issue."

Enough Said is raising $10 million of the $25 million Worthy estimates might be needed to investigate cases associated with the tested rape kits, but she stressed that this is just an estimate because investigators are still searching for victims

"We don’t know how many victims are still alive or want to go forward," she said. "We would never force a victim to go forward if they don’t want to."

Worthy also must contend with a statute of limitations that makes some cases too old to investigate unless they are part of a serial killer probe. But Worthy also praises the investigators, mostly retired and few in number in Detroit and Wayne County, for the jobs they're doing.

"Probably once a week, they come up and tell me incredible stories of the victims that they’re meeting who want to go forward," she recounted. "They show up on their doorstep, and the women want to move forward. It’s a wonderful feeling that we can bring justice to these victims."

Carolyn Cassin, president and CEO of the Michigan Women's Foundation, which launched the Enough Said campaign, said her group's theme is helping Michigan's women and girls thrive.

"Well, you cannot thrive if you are not safe," Cassin said.

Worthy hopes that the response to solving rapes will translate into a greater concern for and help with solving other crimes.

“When the community sees this, I don’t know a bigger sign they could see that we need the community’s total involvement," she said. "We’re fighting on all fronts, cold case homicides, child abuse, domestic violence."

Worthy also said she hopes the attention will bring more victims forward.

It did immediately.

As Worthy wound up her time with reporters, a woman approached her on the sidewalk. Her bright red hair and easy smile belied her purpose. Her name was Ericka Murria, and she told Worthy about being raped 11 years before when she was 21. She had gone out with her boyfriend, and they'd been drinking. After parting with her boyfriend, she wound up at a house but had no idea where she was. After the rape, she called an ambulance. She didn't tell her boyfriend for 10 years.

That night, "the police officer actually told me I would never have a day in court because they were going to just put my information in a box on a shelf," Murria, now 32, said. "He told me that."

Her rape kit was among the lost ones that has been tested. But no match showed up in the national database for her kit. Worthy hugged her and told her she would be in touch. Murria is still awaiting justice.

For more information, visit: https://www.crowdrise.com/AfricanAmerican490Challenge

Contact Rochelle Riley at rriley99@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @rochelleriley. Listen to her at 4 p.m. Sundays on "In the Mix with Marie and Rochelle" on WJR 760AM.