Reported rapes have increased by nearly 40% in Durham. Here’s why — and how to get help.
Although the rate of violent crimes overall in Durham has reduced by a tenth since last year, rapes have risen more than any other offense.
Reported rapes in Durham were up by 40% in the first three months of 2023 compared to a year prior, according to the Durham Police Department’s most recent quarterly crime briefing.
The reason for the spike? Police Chief Patrice Andrews told the City Council last month that victims are reporting rapes committed in previous years.
“Our rapes that were up 38.9%... 40% of those offenses occurred in prior years,” said Andrews. “We’re seeing more reports, more rapes, sexual assaults, being reported from prior years. Which is good, we want to have those reports.”
The increase was from 36 reported rapes in the first quarter of 2022 to 50 reported this year.
Arrests have been made in 13 of those cases. Victims came forward with cases that were not recent in a majority of these — the police chief said nine of the cases cleared involved victims reporting rapes that were from prior years.
There were a total of 135 rapes reported in Durham in 2022, a 16% increase from 116 in 2020.
There’s no statute of limitations for rape within North Carolina state law, which means someone can be charged at any time in the future for this crime.
“Again, hats off to our Special Victims Unit (and) our cold case staff that are really doing a great job trying to bring closure to the tragic assaults of our victims,” Andrews said.
The Durham Police Department’s Special Victims Unit investigates most rapes.
The department’s Cold Case Unit also handles rape investigations reported in 2017 and in prior years, according to a police spokesperson.
Increase in Durham services to sexual assault victims
As the city’s principal provider of support services for domestic and sexual violence, the Durham Crisis Response Center confirms that it has seen an increase this year in services to victims of sexual assault.
“When people are coming forward and ready to see their cases through, they’re also going to seek out some of these services,” Damien Talley, executive director of the center, said in an interview. “Calls to our helpline, our visits, go up some.”
When victims of sexual assault decide to report their cases to law enforcement, they’ll turn to crisis centers to learn of resources available to them either for the first time or that they weren’t aware of, according to Talley, who became director of the center in January.
Through the Durham Crisis Response Center, victims of sexual violence can receive legal advocacy to take their cases to court, seek resources to file protective orders and also receive counseling.
“What I’m hoping is that (victims) see the District Attorney doing a great job in making sure that sexual assault cases are seen through and that people are prosecuted,” Talley said.”The Durham Police Department has made sure that they’re doing their due diligence and making sure that these circumstances are brought to justice.”
Talley said he hopes people seeing the support available at the Durham Crisis Response Center motivates victims to report their assaults.
“Once they recognize they have support from the Durham community, that empowers them and encourages them to go forward with their cases,” he said.
Talley acknowledged the work of Durham District Attorney Satana Deberry, who has placed an emphasis on prosecuting sexual assault cases.
“We take a trauma-informed and survivor-centered approach to sexual assault cases, including those charged through the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, which we joined in 2019,” Deberry said in a statement to The N&O. “This means we trust survivors are the experts on their own experiences, needs and well-being. It means we work hand-in-hand with the Durham Crisis Response Center to ensure survivors are informed, supported, and connected to resources. And it means we are trained to understand the effects of trauma and how to mitigate re-traumatization during what can be a difficult court process.”
Through the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, the county has been able to test more rape kits to identify and convict perpetrators.
The initiative has led to convictions against nine Durham defendants — some repeat offenders — in connection with 12 sexual assaults going back to 2005, Deberry said.
“We do believe that the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative is demonstrating for survivors that they have not been forgotten, they will be taken seriously if they come forward, and that the Durham DA’s Office and Durham Police Department are equipped to bring closure to these cases years and even decades later.”
How many rapes have been reported in Raleigh?
The five-year average of reported rapes in Raleigh as of June 2023 is 61, according to Lt. Jason Borneo of the Raleigh Police Department.
The data doesn’t show an upwards or downward trend, he said.
Raleigh police reported there were 43 rapes in the first three months of 2023, compared to 40 in the same time frame in 2022. The 2023 figure shows seven fewer rapes in Raleigh than in Durham, though Durham’s population is about 60% of Raleigh’s..
The reported rapes in Raleigh this year show a 7% increase from in the same time frame in 2022, compared to Durham’s 40%.
Though Raleigh hasn’t seen a spike like Durham’s, there has been an increase this year in people seeking sexual assault resources at InterAct of Wake County.
“We’ve seen just an increase in our volume of clients, patients, survivors,” said Lauren Schwartz, the director of sexual assault services. “But as far as I’m reporting to law enforcement, that number appears to be the same (this year).”
More than half — about 60% — of clients at InterAct report their sexual assaults to law enforcement.
“Anytime a survivor has the opportunity to report or to share their story, that can be very empowering,” Schwartz said.
The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) estimates that two out of every three sexual assaults go unreported.
Rate of arrests in rape cases
As of March 31, the most recent date provided by Durham police, the clearance rate for rape was 26%.
Durham’s rape clearance rate was 22.2% in 2022 and 23% in 2021.
In Raleigh, the clearance rates were 42% in 2022, and 37% in 2021.
Last year there were 178 rapes reported in Raleigh, a decrease from 204 in 2021.
“Open investigations may take months and years to close,” Lt. Borneo said. “Although those numbers appear low, they will go up as time passes.”
If you need help
▪ The Durham Crisis Response Center offers a 24-hour helpline and offers various resources on its website at https://thedcrc.org/. The center’s helpline is available in English at 919-403-6562 and in Spanish at 919-519-3735.
▪ InterAct’s crisis line in Wake County is available 24 hours a day in English at 919-828-7740 and in Spanish at 844-203-8896. Find other resources on InterAct’s website at https://interactofwake.org/.
Counselors are also available from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday.
▪ Orange County Rape Crisis Center’s helpline is open 24 hours at 919-967-7273. Other resources can be found in English and Spanish on the organization’s website at https://ocrcc.org/.
▪ RAINN’s national sexual assault hotline is open 24 hours a day at 1-800-656-4673.
This story was originally published June 15, 2023 at 3:11 PM with the headline "Reported rapes have increased by nearly 40% in Durham. Here’s why — and how to get help.."
