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Director Dora Schriro Addresses Victims of Domestic Violence

Director Dora Schriro addresses a crowd gathered outside the Arizona State Capitol during the Third Annual Stop the Violence Against Women Day.

Violence Against Women Must Stop.

On February 14, 2006, many citizens of Arizona stood up and echoed these words before a packed audience on the Arizona State Capitol lawn during the Third Annual Stop the Violence Against Women Day. The event, hosted by the Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Arizona Sexual Assault Network, featured addresses from Secretary of State Jan Brewer, Director of the Governor’s Division for Women Joanne Del Colle, Director of the Arizona Foundation for Women Nancy Dean and Arizona Department of Corrections Director Dora Schriro.

In her address, Director Schriro told victims of domestic violence, “The Arizona Department of Corrections is seeking ways to serve you better. To ensure your safety through the time the felons are confined; to ensure your safety as they complete their sentence under community supervision and to ensure your safety for months and years after they have been discharged from the department. It’s our job to ensure the safety for all men and women in the state of Arizona, now and later.”

Under the direction of Schriro, the ADC operates the agency’s first-ever office of victim services, which provides victim-focused and victim-friendly services to crime victims and survivors throughout Arizona. 

ADC has also developed a Restorative Justice program that holds inmates accountable for their crimes and prepares them to go back into their communities as civil and productive citizens upon release. Restorative Justice facilitates the inmate’s understanding of the impact of crime on others and presses home the point that “doing time” isn’t nearly enough.

“Restorative Justice is our effort to focus an offender’s attention and efforts so as to make amends to men, women, children and families who have suffered at the hands of domestic violence,” Schriro said.

Office of Victim Services Highlights for 2005:

• ADC advocated on the behalf of crime victims to help pass legislation to protect victims of domestic violence and stalking from having their personal residences listed on public web sites.

• In addition to court-ordered restitutions, ADC inmates raised more than $32,000 of their own funds to the Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Arizona Sexual Assault Network.

• Inmate labor has been deployed around the state to help victims of crime. Most recently, inmate labor was used to help the Arizona Southern Center Against Sexual Assault move into its new facility and build furniture.

• Inmates continue to make toys and child-sized furniture for the Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence Witness Program.

More photos from the 2006 Stop the Violence Against Women Day

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