Discredited and defunded: Sexual assault crisis centers are struggling to support Black women

Kalimah Johnson was 28 years old when she decided to face her fears.

She needed to do an internship to complete her undergraduate degree in social work at Wayne State University. She thought about finding a location in Detroit where she could work with kids to challenge herself to use her skills to make a difference.

But she realized she wasn’t afraid of children, she was fearful of her past — her childhood.

Johnson experienced sexual assault as a child and became a rape survivor at the age of 15. So she decided to intern at the Detroit Rape Crisis Counseling Center instead.

The center was a part of a free and confidential service tied with the Detroit Police Department’s Victim Assistance Program and was the only sexual assault program in the city of Detroit for Johnson to choose from.

Though Detroit Rape Crisis Counseling Center was part of the Detroit Police Department, the main offices for social workers were located in hospitals, so survivors didn’t have to go into an actual precinct or if they were calling the center, they didn’t have to file a police report.

“I anticipated being around a group of people who understood the experience of rape survivors, but that’s not what I got,” said Johnson. “I expected them to have more connection to the community or an activism/awareness department, but it was very bureaucratic.”

Johnson said she felt the program was needed because survivors could find someone to talk to or advocate for them, but there were many limitations and pieces missing. She described it as a “system within a system.”

After the Detroit Rape Crisis Counseling Center received new funding allowing social workers to be placed inside precincts, Johnson — who started as an intern and transitioned to a full-time worker — became one of the first social workers to be placed inside a Detroit Police Station precinct to work with sexual assault survivors. Johnson worked at several precincts to conduct training and learn about the different communities.

She said during her 10 years there she saw various “systemic issues for Black women.”

“Police officers would send perpetrators who just did their 24 hours in a holding cell straight to me like, ‘Go see the domestic violence lady’,” recalled Johnson. “I’d be like ‘I’m not here for perpetrators. Our funding won’t allow us to work with perpetrators here.’ [Officers] would respond like, ‘but you’re here, I don’t understand why you just can’t help the guy out.’

Johnson said she remembered times when perpetrators sent to her would ask what shelter she put his girlfriend in, making Johnson’s work environment threatening and unsafe — putting both the victim and Johnson at risk.

After going to the precincts morning meeting to reiterate her job description to officers and give out her business card in an attempt to end confusion about her role, Johnson said one of the officers said “would someone please fuck her” and the others laughed.

Johnson said, “I felt like I was in an environment where I was never going to win.”

Now, with a master’s degree in social work specializing in mental health and community organizing, Johnson works part-time as the founder, executive director and a participant of the Sexual Assault Services for Holistic Healing & Awareness (SASHA) Center to focus on the African-American women’s experience with sexual assault — though the groups and services are open to all.

“What we do at my organization is not what they did enough of at my old job. Community activism, support group services and trying to impact and uplit the voices Black women and girls through justice,” she said.

Johnson said she knew from early on that if she was going to create anything, it would be something rooted in Blackness because celebrating that has always been important to her — adding that she keeps African decor in her home that belonged to her mother.

Johnson said she knew her center would focus on Blackness from “very early on, even though at the time I didn’t know what that looked like.”

Now for Johnson and the SASHA Center, that looks like activities planned around urban gardening, museum tours, poetry readings, African drumming, conversations around hair texture, music and dance, and much more for participants — who are able to pick what they want to participate in on the SASHA Center website.

Organizations working with survivors say laws meant to support sexual assault survivors and provide funding for crisis centers tend to benefit white women and ignore the issues Black women face as a result of sexual assault.

Due to lack of support crisis centers are left to find alternative responses fit for their community as a way to support Black women who are disproportionately affected by sexual assault.

As many as six in 10 Black women report being subjected to coercive sexual contact by the age of 18 and for every Black woman who reports rape, at least 15 do not report, according to the National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community.

A 2001 report for the Department of Justice found that Black women were more likely to make reports of intimate violence to the police than other racial/ethnic groups.

Dehumanization after disclosure further traumatizes

After reporting or speaking about their assault, Black women typically face a high level of public scrutiny which often leads to denialism or discrediting of the woman’s story — which can add another layer of trauma for victims and can leave them feeling isolated and alone.

Activists and organizers who work at crisis centers focused on Black women and the Black community said they have seen these negative responses and the negative results they lead to.

“People automatically assume that Black women are lying, Black women wanted it, Black women caused it, that it never happened, or that we are blowing things out of proportion,” said Kandee Lewis, CEO of Positive Results Center, a nonprofit sexual assault crisis center in Los Angeles.

Although laws related to sexual assault have significantly progressed over the last few decades, activists and organizations working with survivors say there is still more improvement that needs to be made in order for laws to meet the necessities of Black women and Black communities.

“Every law plays a little role but Black women are the most hunted, the most disrespected and the most abused, and yet we receive the least amount of support and that includes funding and resources,” said Lewis of the Positive Results Center. “So, by the time these laws trickle down to our community very often, depending on the law and who is implementing it, it gets watered down. In some cases, we don’t even see the results of it or not enough to make a positive impact.”

Some of the laws — such as the Violence Against Women Act — have a direct impact on the funding provided to crisis centers.

“Our infrastructure is always challenged because we don’t have administrative dollars to pay a person to be there full-time and just do administrative tasks. We have a part-time administrator, I’m a part-time director and we have a part-time program director,” Johnson said.

Other organizations that focus on Black women and the Black community, such as Positive Results Center which had over 20 different sponsors in 2021, say they too are underfunded.

Funding for organizations focused on Black sexual assault survivors falls flat

“Some of the sponsors will give us $5,000, some of them may give us $3,700 dollars. In order to adequately have the type of staff that we need to serve our communities, our salaries would need to be like $1 million. However, that’s not the type of funding we have, but we still make do,” Lewis said. “This is another way that Black communities and Black women are underrepresented because organizations don’t invest with Black women and Black communities the way they do in other communities.”

It’s worth noting, that there have been instances of sexual assault or domestic violence crisis centers receiving $1 million or more in grants and money from legislation in 2022.

“I’m suggesting we work to address a problem in a way that provides better outcomes,” said Johnson. “I believe the better outcomes for Black women and girls — in terms of when they disclose [about a sexual assault] — is providing them with the opportunity and us who are providing services with the opportunity and space for experiencers of sexual assault. Allowing them to have their own voice. Allowing them to share in a way that makes sense to them. Giving them room and space to bring all part of their identity into the room without judgment.”

Organizations say better funding or the ability to access funding in a way that makes sense for the community they serve, better laws to make a noticeable impact and better education at home and in schools regarding sexual education, could all combat the sexual violence and dehumanization Black women face.

“When we teach our children, this is your ear, this is your nose, this is your mouth, this is your teeth, you need to teach them buttock, anus, vagina, penis, breast,” Johnson said.

“Because when young Black children have that language, especially if they are underserved or if they are living in poverty and they are potential perpetrators around, when you’re using that language it could be a deflector,” explained Johnson.

“Also if a child or anybody has been sexually assaulted and they can use the proper names of the body parts, the way the courts understand it, it could make a difference between a [First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct] or a [Fourth Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct],” Johnson said.

Lewis, of the Positive Results Center, said to create meaningful change to protect Black women, there needs to be more awareness and more funding that addresses the needs of Black women and families.

“We deserve to be seen and heard. We deserve to have an opportunity to heal and live life with abundance,” Lewis said. “In order to do that we have to acknowledge it wasn’t our fault. I encourage people to find a resource that they feel safe and comfortable with. And that’s usually someone who looks like them — though not all the time. Not all skin folk are kinfolk. Find the right person and make sure you advocate for yourself. Speak and live your truth and if you choose not to speak that’s okay.”

“We need community-based organizations that represent the community that has lived in that same community. Experiences that are available when they are available. We have to understand the needs of the community,” Lewis said.

This report was produced with support from Renaissance Journalism’s LaunchPad Fellowship for NextGen Journalists, which is supported by funds from The Nathan Cummings Foundation and Ford Foundation.