In western Alaska, rape survivors and their supporters say Nome’s police department has often failed to investigate sexual assaults, especially when the victims are Alaska Native women. AP freelance correspondent Victoria Mckenzie verified these claims with shoe leather source reporting and by obtaining key law enforcement and hospital records. Nome police data show that from 2008 through 2017 just 8% of calls about sexual assaults against adults resulted in an arrest.
Men shovel snow from the roof of a grocery store as a statue of one of the “Three Lucky Swedes,” credited with discovering gold in the late 19th century, stands in the foreground, in Nome, Alaska, Feb. 14, 2019. The city later added statues of two native boys who led him to find the gold.
AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
Deidre Levi rests her head for a moment in her grandmother’s house before a basketball game in the Native Village of St. Michael, Alaska, Feb. 16, 2019. Levi says she spoke up about being sexually assaulted because she wanted to be a role model for girls in Alaska.
AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
Deidre Levi carries her basketball as she walks to work in the Native Village of St. Michael, Alaska, Feb. 17, 2019. Levi says she chose to speak up about being sexually assaulted because she wanted to set an example for girls in Alaska.
AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
The sun rises in the horizon in Nome, Alaska, Feb. 15, 2019. The city of Nome, with a population of about 3,800, is located about 143 miles (230 km) below the Arctic Circle on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea.
AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
Snow blows at the entrance to the Nome Public Safety Building, located on a tundra road on the outskirts of Nome, Alaska, Feb. 22, 2019. According to city officials, several cabinets of police records were either lost or destroyed in the move to this building a decade ago.
AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
The Nome police station on a tundra road outside of town in Nome, Alaska, Feb. 22, 2019.
AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
New police chief Robert Estes speaks to the AP in Nome, Alaska, Feb. 23, 2019. Estes replaced the outgoing chief after public complaints that the department had mishandled sexual assault cases in Nome. Estes has announced that the department is performing an internal audit of over 460 old sexual assault cases.
AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
A woman shields her face from the wind during a snow storm as she walks on Front Street in Nome, Alaska, Feb. 23, 2019.
AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
A man shovels snow outside the Polar Bar and Cafe on Front Street in Nome, Alaska. Feb. 22, 2019.
AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
The entrance to Norton Sound Regional Hospital is obscured by a snow storm in Nome, Alaska, Feb. 21, 2019. The hospital serves Nome and surrounding villages of the Bering Strait region.
AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
A taxi approaches the Norton Sound Regional Hospital during a storm in Nome, Alaska, Feb. 21, 2019. The main hospital serving residents in the Bering Strait region is located about a mile from downtown Nome.
AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
People play pool while others sit at the bar at Soap and Suds, a popular nighttime spot on Front Street in Nome, Alaska, Feb. 23, 2019.
AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
A cat hops off a table lamp inside a home in Nome, Alaska, Feb. 18, 2019. Most residents here live in single story homes built on the permafrost and use oil for heating.
AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
Winds carry snow across the tarmac of the Unalakleet Airport in Alaska, Feb. 15, 2019. The airport is a common stop between Nome and villages to the south, reachable only by air.
AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
An aerial view of the Native Village of St. Michael, Alaska, Feb. 15, 2019. Transportation between villages and Nome is limited to air travel.
AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
The afternoon sun hangs low as it shines through the snow at the airport in Nome, Alaska, Feb. 13, 2019.
AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
Through powerful photos and text, Mckenzie and enterprise photographer Maye-E Wong told a story that hasn’t gotten much attention amid the celebrity-driven sex scandals of the #MeToo era – how average Americans in small communities are struggling with issues of sexual violence and law enforcement. The story made clear that Nome’s struggles don’t represent an isolated case; it is a microcosm of how police and towns and cities across the U.S. have failed survivors of sexual assaults.
A snow-encrusted sign marks the entrance to the police station on a tundra road on the outskirts of Nome, Alaska, Feb. 21, 2019.
AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
This was an immensely challenging story to report and photograph. The only way to get to Nome – and get from Nome to surrounding villages – was by costly flights. Key sources for the story were people who had suffered profound trauma, not only because of actual assaults but also because, they said, of official indifference. Getting them to talk, and to allow themselves to be photographed, required extensive reporting, networking and emotional intelligence.
Mckenzie moved to Nome for three months, renting a room in a mobile home during a time when temperatures there were as low as minus-29 degrees. In all, Mckenzie interviewed more than 150 people, including sexual assault survivors and their family and friends, police, politicians, bureaucrats, Native Alaska leaders, cultural and law enforcement experts and others. Wong, who ultimately joined Mckenzie in the same accommodations, grappled with many of the same challenges that Mckenzie faced, portraying with sensitivity a victim of assault while vividly capturing the flavor and harsh cnditions of western Alaska in February.
The story received more than 350 online pickups from customers, nearly 15,000 Facebook engagements and more than 60,000 views on AP mobile and APnews.com.
For going to extremes – literally and figuratively – to shed light on a remote corner of the national and global issue of sexual violence and enforcement, Wong and Mckenzie share this week’s Best of the States award.