Miss Arizona, Hilary Griffith, was recognized by Gov. Janet Napolitano for her efforts to help crime victims speak out.
Griffith herself is a crime victim. She was sexually assaulted in November 2004. She told a gathering in the Executive Tower lobby April 23 that she wanted her attacker to look her in the face.
“I want my attacker to see what he started. He messed with the wrong woman,” Griffith said.
Griffith spoke to a group of more than 50 people, including Napolitano, Attorney General Terry Goddard, Corrections Director Dora Schriro two Arizona Supreme Court justices, judges and other victims of crime. They gathered to kick off Victims’ Rights Week.
Griffith later told a reporter that about six months after she was attacked, “I decided to speak out publicly about it.”
She spoke to schools, churches and other groups about the need for crime victims to make themselves heard and recognize their rights. She called her effort “strength over silence.”
She won the Miss Arizona title last June. Napolitano presented her with the Triumph Over Tragedy award.
In her opening remarks, Napolitano said victims of crimes sometimes feel let down by the system.
“Too often, even though law enforcement is on the side of the victim, it doesn’t always feel that way,” Napolitano said.
The governor said measures are being taken to help crime victims, including legislation that would make it easier for victims of stalking and domestic violence to remove personal information from public records.
She added that Arizona now has a law requiring Superior Court judges to read the state victims’ bill of rights aloud in court.
“Arizona became only the third state in the country to do this,” Napolitano said.
Arizona Supreme Court Justice Rebecca White Berch said crime victims now can sign up to be notified instantly on any changes involving their case or the person accused of committing the crime. In addition, court buildings are now being designed to provide separate areas “for the special needs of crime victims,” she said.
In addition, Students Against Drunk Driving and Mothers Against Drunk Driving were each presented with $53,000 for crime prevention and victim advocacy programs. The money was raised by prison inmates.
According to the Arizona Department of Public Safety, 441 people were murdered in Arizona in 2005, the latest year for which figures were readily available. That was up from 412 in 2004, though rapes and aggravated assaults were down slightly.