Ignored Victims in North Carolina

by Matt Kelley

category: victims rights

Published August 23, 2009 @ 06:55AM PT

I've been following the ongoing tragedy in Rocky Mount, N.C., where at least six women have been killed by a possible serial killer in the last four years, many of them sex workers and drug addicts. Three more women are missing. All nine are black. And this horrible string of crimes is compounded by a lackluster response from law enforcement and the mainstream media.

The mainstream national media only took interest recently, with a visit from an Anderson Cooper 360 team in July and a New York Times story in August. I'm even later than them in writing about this story. Family members of the victims have criticized the efforts by the local police department to investigate the murders.

Tynatta James, whose sister Ernestine Battle was killed, told the NY Times: ''I didn't really feel like they were doing all they could. I just feel like they recently started to get involved in the cases after the last lady.''

A group of relatives of the murdered or missing women formed a group and they're blogging here. Please take action today to help the families raise awareness of the case onine. Visit their blog, comment, let them know they have your support. And then, go a step further. Tweet about this case, post about it, offer your help to the relatives of the victims. Click here to tweet the message below:

Six women killed and three missing in NC - support their families' efforts to raise awareness - http://bit.ly/11nKTq

And keep reading, there's more:

Sariye summed up the clear disparities in the handling of this case in a powerful post at feministing last week:

These women being murdered are triple minorities who have survived God only knows, and people should be outraged that the authorities have not been swift in investigating these crimes. We also need to watch out for the stigmatizing and victim blaming inherent in the coverage of the crack smoking and sex work of the victims. The right for every woman — regardless of the social acceptability of her work — to live free from violence is at stake in this. I am sad that women’s lives are casualties of the increasingly hostile sexism and racism that is sweeping our country and my heart goes out to their families. But I am certain that activists will be meeting racism, misogyny and sexuality discrimination head on with an aggressive response.

The families are suffering and the community is worried that the perpetrator will attack again. Perhaps the police have begun to invest real time and resources now in catching the perpetrator. But this case is a representative of countless investigations around the country: when a crime victim is a member of a minority group, the investigation is less likely to have the resources it needs and the media is less likely to cover the story. Several studies have shown that crimes with minority victims are less likely to be reported in the media. This needs to be addressed.

Jackie Wiggins' daughter Jackie Nikelia Thorpe was killed in Rocky Mount two years ago. From the Rocky Mount Telegram:

There were no search crews canvassing fields or neighborhoods when Thorpe went missing, Wiggins said. Her photo wasn’t posted in area newspapers, on TV reports or on flyers around town. When Thorpe disappeared, few noticed.

When she was found murdered a few months later, the Telegram summarized her death in five paragraphs, and the case was mentioned in a single, 30-second TV news report. A few friends called to sympathize, but that was the end of it.

“It didn’t seem like anybody cared,” Wiggins said. “The police didn’t seem to care when I filed the report. Nobody ever got back with me saying, ‘We’re working on it.’ Nobody came out to my house to get a picture or asked me to bring a picture.

“I guess it didn’t seem important enough.”

Visit the Black and Missing But Not Forgotten blog to get involved today.