Voices from the backlog: Part 1
Community leaders engage the public in an open discussion of the status, ramifications, and outcomes of the Detroit Rape-Kit backlog. The event, held on April 19th, 2019 at the Detroit Institute of the Arts was the brainchild of LaQuetta Elle Travis, a survivor, activist, and poet who received notification that her rape kit had been tested almost ten years after she was abducted and raped at knifepoint. The rape-kit backlog is a nation-wide phenomenon whereby thousands of sexual assault kits sit, untested and uninvestigaged, in police storage--denying victims justice and increasing risk to the public. The panel, consisting of Mark Ferrah, Investigator; Rebecca Campbell, PhD; LaQuetta Elle Travis, activist; Eradajere Oleita, activist, Danelle Foster, victim advocate, and Willie E. Bell, Detroit Police Commissioner participate in a discussion and Q&A led by moderator, Kahlima Johnson, of the SASHA Center. You can learn more about Ms. Travis' activism at www.authorelletravis.com. If you have been sexually assaulted, there is help available. In Detroit, reach out to the SASHA Center at https://www.sashacenter.org/ or Wayne County SAFE (Sexual Assault Forensic nurse Examiners) at http://wcsafe.org/ You can learn more about Ms. Travis' work at www.authorelletravis.com
