High crime

Worcester's sexual-assault rate is the highest in the state. Rape crisis workers and police say it's a reason to feel good about their work.

by Chris Kanaracus

A handful of local, high-profile sexual assaults, where victims were knocked unconscious by a powerful drug, certainly raised the specter of rape in a relatively safe city last year. But a new report shows that Worcester's sexual-assault rate has actually been on fast-paced increase for years. According to figures compiled by the police department, Worcester can now add the dubious title of "Forcible Rape Capital of the Commonwealth" to monikers like "Wormtown" and "Paris of the '80s."

Compared to four other cities' -- Boston, Lowell, Springfield, and Cambridge rates -- Worcester trends are stunning. Per 100,000 residents, from 1993 to 1997, the forcible rape rate rose by 57 percent locally (there were 77 reported in '93 and 121 in 1997), while the state's other large cities experienced either moderate fluctuations or dramatic decreases. Lowell and Cambridge showed slight increases in reported cases in 1995, but by 1997, both had actually dropped below original 1993 levels. Meanwhile, Springfield's rate fell by 39 percent, and Boston's by 27 percent during the four-year period.

Compared with these cities' figures, Worcester's rate appears to paint a grim picture of violent crime. But those who work closely with sexual-assault victims and their assailants say the latest findings are not cause for alarm but a sign that community efforts are succeeding at erasing the stigma that those who report the crimes are further abused by the justice system.

"This is a result of more people coming forward, not of any real increase in the number of rapes," says Lt. Bill O'Connor of the Worcester Police Department's sex-assault unit. "This is not an instance of some random stalker pulling women off the street."

Police, under its community policing efforts, have increased outreach programs and coordinated contact with local and state agencies, including the Department of Social Services (DSS), the women's shelter Daybreak, and Worcester County district attorney John Conte's office.

In fact, "most of these rapes, as has always been, are between two people that know each other," O'Connor says. Indeed, according to figures from the National Victim Center, located in Washington, DC, in 78 percent of all rape cases nationwide the victim knows her assailant.

Perhaps one of the most effective measures of law enforcement in Worcester is the SAIN program (Sexual Assault Intervention Network), which brings together the district attorney's office, the police department, and DSS when a complaint is first filed. "With this kind of setup, everyone's on the same page from the get-go," O'Connor says. "We can collaborate and resolve things more quickly and effectively."

The notion that the growth of Worcester's rape rate is apparent but not actual, is shared -- at least in part -- by Nassrene Farhoody, executive director of Worcester's Rape Crisis Program. Like the police, Farhoody has witnessed an increase in business. In recent weeks the center's hotline calls have doubled, emergency counseling at area hospitals has steadily increased, and, interestingly, more teens are taking advantage of the center's services.

"I'd like to think that our increased visibility in the schools has something to do with it," says Farhoody. She is referring to a program started approximately two years ago that goes beyond the center's traditional in-class workshops (which have been in place for at least seven years) and actually places rape counselors directly in the schools. "Quite often the guidance department at the school is a source of referrals," she says. "They are naturally more aware of problems among students, and they also are more effective in convincing someone to come forward."

Farhoody poses that some of those referrals are a result of the increased awareness of sex-assault related issues -- issues that are less taboo in today's mainstream culture. "Today, date rape, acquaintance rape, what have you, is not acceptable. Ten years ago, that wasn't always the case. People are more aware."

One potential trend is the increase in assaults in which victims are drugged. "We are seeing a growing number of cases that possibly involve date-rape drugs," she says. Though there were several reported incidents, one of the most-talked about occurred last year when Ryan Martin -- selected in 1997 as one of Cosmopolitan's "Most Eligible Bachelors -- was charged with the alleged rape of a 21-year-old woman after spiking her drink with the drug GHB, a powerful depressant.

Four other cases were alleged to have occurred at Walshy's, a bar on Main Street. "These types of cases may be far more prevalent than people realize. This type of rape, I mean, one is unconscious . . . literally, a piece of meat. The shame associated with this is enormous . . . not only that, it can be very hard to prosecute such things, due to the fact that the victim may not have a clear picture of what happened that night herself." Farhoody says these extenuating factors could be disguising the true numbers involving such crimes.

O'Connor says that an increased police presence in the schools to discuss crime, including rape, wasn't feasible in the early 1990s because of budget constraints. "And even before that, it wasn't happening. Not due to lack of money, but because these programs weren't even in existence . . . weren't even considered at the time. I can confidently say that due to our efforts and the efforts of others, people are more comfortable coming forward and reporting these crimes."