Kym Worthy: If Flint Investigation Was Done Properly From Beginning ‘It Would Not Still Be Going On’
Worthy joins Detroit Today to discuss her office’s rape kit efforts as well as answer criticisms from criminal justice advocates.
It’s been almost ten years since the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office found more than 11-thousand untested rape kits in an abandoned Detroit storage locker. Suddenly, the office had a colossal task on its hand, and a duty to do whatever it could to bring justice for rape survivors. Now, a national organization called the Joyful Heart Foundation has certified the office to develop a statewide system for how to test rape kits. This has been one of the defining moments of Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy’s tenure in that office.
Worthy joins Detroit Today with Stephen Henderson to discuss her efforts toward the improved handling of rape kits in Michigan. She also addresses the steps the nation must take to eliminate rape culture and its disproportionate abuse of women of color.
“I consider sexual assault to be the last bastion of ignorance and ignoring one of the most violent things that can happen to a woman,” she says to Henderson.
Worthy also discusses the bill recently signed by Gov. Whitmer to allow for medically frail inmates to be paroled. She further reflects on her history as a Michigan prosecutor and the multi-faceted process behind incarceration and exoneration in our modern prison-system.
She also discusses the re-organization of the investigation into the Flint Water Crisis. “If Flint prosecution would have been handled properly from the beginning, it would not still be going on,” Worthy tells Henderson.
Click on the audio player above to hear the full conversation.
