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Justice for Na’Ziyah: Detroit’s #DontTouchMe movement demands policy reform for child abuse survivors

Thirteen-year-old Na’Ziyah Harris was taken from this world long before her story could fully unfold. A Detroit child, her name now echoes through the hearts of a city still grappling with the horror of her assault, abduction, and murder. It wasn’t just a crime—it was a rupture in the soul of a community. Less than a year later, another Detroit child, just 12 years old, came forward with courage that should never have had to be summoned—exposing the misconduct of a trusted figure, a police officer who should have been her protector.

These names. These children. Their truths are no longer quiet, no longer buried beneath systems that fail to listen or act. They are the catalyst for a call that refuses to be ignored. That call comes from Detroit’s own Neighborhood Service Organization (NSO), a health and human service agency grounded in decades of community healing. NSO has launched a movement that carries the weight and urgency of generations failed—#DontTouchMe. This movement demands systemic accountability for the countless children who experience sexual and physical abuse, often with no justice, no protection, and no end to the trauma.

“We sometimes forget that behind every headline is a child whose life has been irrevocably altered due to the impact of sexual or physical abuse,” said Linda Little, president and CEO of NSO. Her voice carries the wisdom of someone who’s not simply observing the problem, but who has lived it, survived it, and decided silence is no longer an option. “This movement is for individuals like Detroiters Na’Ziyah Harris, The 13-year-old who was sexually assaulted, kidnapped and murdered in 2024, and the 12-year-old child who bravely came forward about inappropriate text messages from her stepfather, a police officer. This is not just a Detroit issue; it is a national epidemic that cannot be left unchecked.”

That clarity—that this is a movement rooted in real lives, not statistics—gives #DontTouchMe its power. NSO is clear about the scale of the crisis: more than 656,000 children in the United States are victims of abuse and neglect every year, according to the Children’s Bureau. Seventy-six percent of those who harm children are their own parents. Even with these alarming truths, the National Sexual Violence Resource Center reports only 20 percent of reported child abuse cases lead to arrest or prosecution.

This is not a failure of law alone—it’s a failure of culture, of accountability, and of infrastructure. Survivors often face a legal system that doesn’t believe them, families that don’t support them, and services that are either out of reach or unavailable when they need them most. “Too many survivors are blamed, silenced, dismissed or retraumatized by a system that should be protecting them,” Little said. She is a survivor. She is a mother. She is leading this charge with a fire that refuses to burn out.

The core of the #DontTouchMe campaign is a promise: that children and families impacted by domestic and sexual violence will receive help when they need it—not weeks later, not after paperwork clears, but within a day. NSO has committed its four clinics to offer same-day and next-day support services. Appointments can be made by calling 1-888-360-WELL. That number is more than a resource—it’s a lifeline.

But direct services are just one part of the fight. Structural change demands reimagining how every system that touches a child—law enforcement, courts, child protective services—responds when abuse is disclosed. NSO is calling for mandatory, trauma-informed, age-specific training for police officers, judges, and abuse investigators. The organization emphasizes that this training must include an understanding of implicit bias and the particular barriers faced by children of color. Without that lens, too many Black children will continue to fall through the cracks of systems that weren’t built for them in the first place.

In 2019, Michigan investigated approximately 69,000 cases of child abuse, with around 25,000 confirmed as victims of maltreatment. Black children were twice as likely as white children to be the subject of a maltreatment investigation, despite nearly identical removal rates following investigations.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Michigan, like the rest of the U.S., saw a decline in confirmed reports of abuse and neglect. This decrease is believed to be due to underreporting, as children had fewer interactions with mandated reporters like teachers and healthcare professionals during remote schooling and skipped medical check-ups.

In Wayne County, which includes Detroit, approximately 21% of children are under the age of four. However, this age group accounts for 34% of maltreated children, indicating a higher prevalence of abuse among younger children. Additionally, Black children represent 18% of Michigan’s child population but account for 26% of maltreatment cases.

These figures highlight the ongoing need for targeted interventions and support systems to protect vulnerable children in Detroit and across Michigan.

Predators know how to hide in plain sight. They know how to manipulate. They know how to shame children into silence. If the people investigating abuse don’t understand those patterns, they will keep missing the signs. NSO is not just pointing fingers—it is pushing for solutions. That includes stronger legal protections for children who report abuse, stricter penalties for convicted abusers, and integrated investigations across law enforcement and social services with independent oversight to ensure integrity and accountability.

This is personal for Little, whose daughter experienced abuse. Her advocacy didn’t begin in a boardroom—it began as a mother demanding justice. That lived experience infuses the entire campaign with authenticity and urgency. Little is not simply leading a nonprofit initiative. She is mobilizing a community uprising—one grounded in pain, but propelled by purpose.

NSO’s reach already spans 12,000 people across Wayne and Oakland counties each year. The organization is now using that reach to galvanize a broader coalition. Already, respected groups have pledged their support for the movement. That includes Alternatives for Girls, Authority Health, Black Family Development, Dunamis Charge, Franklin Wright Settlements, Detroit Service Learning District, SASHA Center, BLOOM Transformation Center, The Yunion, and Community Health and Social Services (CHASS).

This movement asks more from all of us—from business leaders to elected officials, from faith communities to families. NSO is encouraging people to visit DontTouchMe.wiki to download a digital toolkit, donate to the campaign, and add their voices to the collective push for legislative reform. This is how culture shifts—through collective responsibility and organized action.

There is no quick fix for the trauma carried by a child who has been violated. Healing is not linear. Justice is not always swift. But movements like this ensure that silence is no longer the norm and that communities like Detroit—rich with resilience, strength, and legacy—lead the nation toward better models of protection.

The Detroit that birthed this movement is a city of real people. A city where pain and possibility live side by side. A city that knows what it means to be ignored and to rise anyway. That spirit courses through every layer of #DontTouchMe.

“We must do better for our children,” Little said. “Every child has the right to be safe, to be heard and to receive justice. #DontTouchMe is more than a campaign—it’s a movement for change.”

And that change starts right here. Not in a press release, not in a campaign photo—but in the collective voice of a community saying: we believe children. We protect them. We hold the system accountable. We are the movement.

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