Durham police chief, district attorney to talk about sexual assault 'Sister to Sister'

Herald-Sun - 11/12/2019

Nov. 12--DURHAM -- Durham's police chief and district attorney will hold a two-hour public conversation Saturday called "Sister to Sister: A Talk On Sexual Assault."

District Attorney Satana Deberry said she and Chief C.J. Davis want to bring sexual assault "out of the shadows" and have been working on the event since February. The talk will take place from 10 a.m. to noon at the Durham County administrative building, 201 E. Main St. downtown.

Deberry, who has been the DA since January, said they decided to focus on sexual assault "because of the unreported nature of it, the vulnerability of women and children who have been sexually assaulted and because Durham is in a unique position to have a DA and the police chief to be women and women of color."

The moderated conversation will include information about investigating and prosecuting sexual assault and how to recognize when someone is being abused.

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A violent crime, a living victim

From 2017 to Nov. 2, nearly 400 forcible rapes were reported in Durham. That statistic doesn't include other forms of reported sexual assaults, including a sexual offense or indecent liberties with a child.

Young adulthood is one of the most vulnerable times for women, Deberry said, and allies can help by recognizing the impacts of sexual assault.

"There is a lot of media attention on homicide and other violent crimes," Deberry said. "This is a violent crime that has a living victim and people who are traumatized for the rest of their lives after being sexually assaulted."

The Durham City Council recently accepted a $1 million grant to aid an effort by the Police Department, the DA's Office and others to address a backlog of untested sexual assault kits.

Charlene Reiss, the coordinator of the Durham Crisis Response Center's sexual assault response team, said any forum that helps correct misinformation about sexual assault is helpful, especially from insiders who can explain how the legal system works and the differences between what is believed by officials and what is provable in court.

"Just because somebody doesn't get arrested or go to jail or prison does not mean that a crime didn't occur," she said. "There is a difference between what is known and what is provable."

Reiss said she hopes the forum signals "that it is a priority for our justice system to take these cases seriously and to believe victims and work with them so that their perpetrator can be brought to justice."

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