Hurt2Healing Magazine
  • HOME
  • MIND
    • Motivation
    • Perspective
  • BODY
    • Health & Wellness
  • SOUL
    • Grief & Loss
    • Love
    • Self-Help
    • Spirituality
  • CULTURE
    • Beauty
    • Boss Status
    • Food
    • Music & Entertainment
    • EVENTS
      • Wounds2Wisdom
  • FEATURES
    • Social Media Warfare
    • Audio Interviews
    • Cover Stories
    • Muhammad’s Economic Blueprint
  • SPEAK OUT
    • VIDEOS
  • SHOP
FULL REPLAY::: FARRAKHAN SPEAKS JULY 4 #MessageToTheWorld
QUICK LINKS
  • ABOUT
    • The Publisher
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • WEB DESIGN SERVICES
  • ARCHIVES
  • CONTACT
  • SHOP
Meet the Publisher!

Copyright Hurt2Healing 2008-2020

  • ABOUT
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • WEB DESIGN SERVICES
  • ARCHIVES
  • CONTACT
  • SHOP
Subscribe
Hurt2Healing Magazine
Hurt2Healing Magazine
  • HOME
  • MIND
    • Motivation
    • Perspective
  • BODY
    • Health & Wellness
  • SOUL
    • Grief & Loss
    • Love
    • Self-Help
    • Spirituality
  • CULTURE
    • Beauty
    • Boss Status
    • Food
    • Music & Entertainment
    • EVENTS
      • Wounds2Wisdom
  • FEATURES
    • Social Media Warfare
    • Audio Interviews
    • Cover Stories
    • Muhammad’s Economic Blueprint
  • SPEAK OUT
    • VIDEOS
  • SHOP
  • Perspective
  • SPEAK OUT

Raped, Then Forgotten Until a Community Intervened

  • August 29, 2016
  • 3 minute read
  • Hurt2Healing
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0

[Source: EBONY.com]

In Detroit, women like Ardelia Ali, who have survived sexual assault, now know they are not alone thanks to a large scale effort to uncover secrets hidden for years in thousands of untested rape kits

The memory of Ardelia Ann Ali’s rape sticks to her like plaster.

She works hard to peel off the thick depression, anxiety and fear her rapist left after gripping her neck, sliding a knife against her face and violently raping her in November 1995 when she was 18. She says he stripped away her self-esteem, and as a result, she can’t seem to move on.

The sexual assault has impaired her physical and emotional well-being, plaguing her with an inability to engage in a normal sex life in addition to an array of life-threatening challenges: morbid obesity, diabetes, hypertension and congestive heart failure.

Not knowing who the tall, skinny Black man was who so deeply damaged nearly half her life ago has haunted her because she had no idea whether he was a neighbor, friend or foe. Now, Ali, 38, can say his name—Marshall Alan White—and she finally is working on the healing she so desperately desires.

“It made me close myself in,” says Ali. “I stayed home and never went out. I didn’t even go to the movies. I missed my 20s and most of my 30s.”

Ali is one of more than 11,000 people in Detroit whose rape kits—DNA, sperm, hair and other specimens—sat untested and collecting dust on racks in a vacated Detroit Police Department evidence storage unit for decades before being discovered.

Some of them had been sitting more than 35 years. Each represented a woman—or a man—whose violent crime had never been investigated. The rape kits remained untested and the perpetrators remained free to rape again. Hundreds did. Like Ali, 81 percent of the victims were African-American.

But the chance discovery of the kits and a community-based initiative to raise the needed funds to get the kits tested and find justice for the victims has slowly developed and has given people like Ali hope.

The story behind the finding of the kits began in August 2009, when Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy assigned then-assistant prosecutor Robert Spada to help find some missing ballistics evidence that was to be transferred from Detroit Police Department to the Michigan State Police. During a tour of an old, annexed overflow property storage unit, he noticed stacks of banker’s boxes in the property room.

As he walked with the group of police officers, he asked what was in those boxes. Rape kits, someone answered.

Curious about whether the kits had been tested, Spada fell back from the group, walked over and opened a box. The rape kits inside were sealed, meaning nobody had bothered to test or investigate them. He opened another box and another.

All the kits inside were untested.

“I thought, ‘My God! How could there be that many rape kits?” says Spada, now the deputy chief of the Special Victims Unit for the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office, charged with heading task force to investigate and prosecute the sexual assaults. “That’s a person who has gone through an invasive exam. I was just shocked. It was just unbelievable.”

He began estimating how many there were—at least 10,000. He called Worthy on his cellphone to share the disturbing news.

Spada’s disbelief was more even profound after some rape kits were tested and prosecutors realized hundreds of the perpetrators were serial rapists, some whose DNA has been linked to more than 10 cases.

The discovery sent Worthy on a mission to get each of the 11,341 kits tested. She estimated she needed at least $17 million, $1,000 to $1,500 for each kit. (The price was later down to $490 per kit.)

Read more

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Related Topics
  • black women raped
  • Detroit rape kits
  • Justice Or Else
  • rape
  • sexual assault
Hurt2Healing

H2H Magazine is the ultimate lifestyle digital publication that has been described as Inspiring, Life-Giving and Cutting Edge. We hold to the principle that there are no subjects too heavy for discussion with our penetrating exclusive interviews. ---- Ebony S. Muhammad: Muslim. Digital Publisher. WordPress Whisperer. Creative Director. Digital Defense + Cyber Security Ninja.

Previous Article
  • Motivation
  • Spirituality

{Ministry Series} The Role of the Ministry In A Time of War f/ Robert L. Muhammad

  • August 29, 2016
  • Hurt2Healing
View Post
Next Article
  • Beauty
  • Boss Status
  • Music & Entertainment

What Does It Take to Launch A Clothing Line? One-On-One w/ Fashion Designer Adilah Muhammad

  • August 30, 2016
  • Hurt2Healing
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • Health & Wellness
  • SPEAK OUT

The Covid-19 Vaccine and the U.S. policy of depopulation

  • December 14, 2020
  • Hurt2Healing
View Post
  • Perspective
  • SPEAK OUT

On The Witness Stand for Farrakhan

  • July 17, 2020
  • Hurt2Healing
View Post
  • Perspective
  • VIDEOS

Monarch Product Unboxing + Review

  • November 14, 2019
  • Hurt2Healing
View Post
  • Perspective

Workplace Relations 2.0

  • September 11, 2019
  • Hurt2Healing
View Post
  • Social Media Warfare
  • SPEAK OUT
  • Spirituality

WATCH: Full Replay of the 2019 Saviours’ Day Keynote Address by The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan

  • February 19, 2019
  • Hurt2Healing
View Post
  • SPEAK OUT

The Termitic Demise of Denouncing Minister Farrakhan

  • February 12, 2019
  • Hurt2Healing
View Post
  • CULTURE
  • SPEAK OUT

Hotel Safety Tips and A Message for Those Who Travel Alone

  • January 8, 2019
  • Hurt2Healing
View Post
  • Perspective
  • Self-Help

The Psychology of Passive-Aggressive People + How to Disarm Them Once and For All

  • December 26, 2018
  • Hurt2Healing

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Font Resizer

A Decrease font size. A Reset font size. A Increase font size.

'.$alt.'
MONARCH | EBONY SAFIYYAH
'.$alt.'
'.$alt.'
'.$alt.'
'.$alt.'
Visit Brother Qiyam Blog
'.$alt.'
'.$alt.'
MONARCH Facebook Fanpage
'.$alt.'
Self-Help
  • Signs of An Abusive Partner & How to Break Free
  • The Art of Living Sober: Addiction Is About Behavior
  • The Courage to Walk Away from An Abusive Relationship
  • Why Sleep Deprivation Is Not Something To Brag About
  • ‘Surviving In Numbers’ Tells The Aftermath Of Sexual Assault
'.$alt.'
'.$alt.'
Welcome To Hurt2Healing Magazine

The Ultimate Lifestyle Magazine

H2H Magazine is a digital publication that has been described as Inspiring, Life-Giving and Cutting-Edge.  We hold to the principle that there are no subjects too heavy for discussion with our penetrating exclusive interviews. We believe in taking a direct approach to topics that are intellectually and spiritually stimulating infused with a little controversy. Here is your front row seat to a space that is sure to rearrange the way you think and see the world around you.

READ MORE

H2H Facebook Fanpage
Featured Posts
  • The Covid-19 Vaccine and the U.S. policy of depopulation
    • December 14, 2020
  • {Book Review} Jonah: A Sign of The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan
    • October 30, 2020
  • Self-Care During A Time of Loss
    • September 10, 2020
  • On The Witness Stand for Farrakhan
    • July 17, 2020
  • STAND UP NOW! Join in demanding YouTube NOT remove Minister Farrakhan’s July 4th message
    • July 11, 2020
  • Watch the Full Replay: The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan Delivers His Message To The World
    • July 4, 2020
Let’s Connect!
Hurt2Healing Magazine
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Shop
  • Contact
COPYRIGHT © HURT2HEALING 2008-2021. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Developed by MODIC DESIGN.

Input your search keywords and press Enter.