AZ Prison Rape: Survivor Resources.

From Just Detention International, some resources for survivors of prison rape in Arizona. Hit their site for a sample letter and talking points to AG Holder about the problems with the Prison Rape Elimination Act standards before the April 4, 2011 deadline. They need to be much stronger than the AG is proposing.

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COUNSELING AND OTHER SUPPORT SERVICES: AZ

Arizona Sexual Assault Network
1949 E. Calle de Arcos
Tempe, AZ 85284
Office: (480) 831-1986
Website: www.ArizonaSexualAssaultNetwork.org
Email: info@ArizonaSexualAssaultNetwork.org

Arizona Sexual Assault Network (AzSAN) works to identify and address sexual violence issues through a collaborative statewide public/private network of professionals, individuals, and organizations who are committed to the fight against sexual violence. AzSAN promotes an understanding of the dynamics of sexual violence and the strategies that will be successful in combating the issue. At local, state, and national levels, AzSAN works to encourage new and effective responses to sexual violence. AzSAN can provide information and referrals to survivors and direct them to member agencies or service providers in their geographic area.

Catholic Community Services in Western Arizona
690 E. 32nd Street
Yuma, AZ 85356
24-hour Hotline: (877) 440-0550
Website: www.ccs-soaz.org/ccswa

Catholic Community Services (CCS) in Western Arizona serves survivors of sexual assault in Yuma and La Paz Counties. CCS provides crisis intervention and information and referrals to survivors of sexual assault behind bars who contact the 24-hour hotline, but due to funding restrictions, CCS cannot offer ongoing support such as counseling or case management to survivors with felony convictions. All services are free and confidential.

Catholic Social Services Counseling Program
140 West Speedway, #130
Tucson, AZ 85705
Office: (520) 623-0344
Website: www.ccs-soaz.org
Email: michaelp@ccs-soaz.org

Catholic Social Services is a division of Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona, Inc. The Catholic Social Services Counseling Program provides individual, couples, family, and group mental health counseling to adults and children in the office or in clients' homes. Most services are provided out of the main office near downtown Tucson, but services are also available from a satellite office in South Tucson and a branch office in Nogales, Arizona. Support groups are formed and arranged based on the needs of the community. The CSS Counseling Program staff includes bilingual Spanish/English counselors as well as counselors who specialize in post-traumatic stress disorder. Counseling fees are based on a sliding scale. The $10.00 registration fee can be waived for clients in financial need.

Kingman Aid to Abused People
P.O. Box 1046
Kingman, AZ 86402
Office: (928) 753-6222
24-hour Hotline: (928) 753-4242

Kingman Aid to Abused People (KAAP) provides comprehensive services to survivors of domestic and sexual violence and other crimes in Kingman, Mohave County, and adjacent areas in the Northwestern corner of Arizona. Supportive services include a 24-hour crisis hotline, emergency shelter, residential program, crisis counseling, legal advocacy, case management, and a children’s program. All services are free and confidential.

North Country HealthCare/Northern Arizona Center Against Sexual Assault
2920 N. 4th Street
Flagstaff, AZ 86004
Office: (928) 213-6112
Website: www.northcountryhealthcare.org

North Country HealthCare provides healthcare, including counseling and support groups, to the residents of Flagstaff, Seligman, Ash Fork, Grand Canyon, Winslow, St. Johns, Springerville/Eager, Holbrook, and Kingman. NACASA does not operate a 24-hour hotline, but local law enforcement contact the Northern Arizona Center Against Sexual Assault (NACASA) to administer medical/forensic examinations (Code R Kits) by specially trained sexual assault nurse examiners. Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) and pregnancy prevention medications are provided to survivors as part of the exam. North Country also offers crisis counseling as well as other behavioral health services to survivors of sexual assault. North Country offers a sliding scale fee for services and will provide healthcare to survivors of sexual assault regardless of their ability to pay.

Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation
375 S. Euclid Ave.
Tucson, AZ 85719
Office: (520) 628-7223
Toll-free: (800) 771-9054
Website: www.saaf.org
E-mail: info@saaf.org

The Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation (SAAF) provides direct services to people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. These services include: case management, peer counseling, support groups, wellness and complementary therapies, emergency financial assistance, medications assistance, transportation, dental services for those who qualify, and advocacy. SAAF works with and provides these direct services to prisoners with HIV/AIDS in the Arizona State system prior to discharge and after their incarceration.

Southern Arizona Center Against Sexual Assault
1600 North Country Club Road
Tucson, AZ 85716
Office: (520) 327-1171
24-hour Bilingual Crisis Line: (520) 327-7273
Toll-free 24-hour Bilingual Crisis Line: (800) 400-1001
TTY Hotline: (520) 327-1721
TTY Hotline Hours: Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm
Website: www.sacasa.org
E-mail: postmaster@sacasa.org

The Southern Arizona Center Against Sexual Assault (SACASA) is the oldest and largest sexual assault service provider in the state of Arizona and the only agency serving Tucson, Pima County, and southern Arizona. SACA offers comprehensive, specialized services to children, youth, adults, and families who have been affected by any type of sexual violence, including rape, incest, molestation, and sexual abuse. SACASA’s services for survivors of sexual assault include: advocacy, crisis intervention, specialized mental health services, prevention education, and professional training. The Crisis Services Program provides immediate and comprehensive intervention, care, advocacy, education, and referral services to survivors, secondary victims, and community members throughout southern Arizona. SACASA provides long-term, comprehensive mental health services for primary and secondary victims and survivors of recent and past sexual trauma who are eligible. All services are free and confidential.

Wingspan
425 East Seventh Street
Tucson, AZ 85705
Office: (520) 624-1779
TDD: (520) 884-0450
24-hour Anti-Violence Crisis Line (English/Spanish): (520) 624-0348
Toll-free 24-hour Anti-Violence Crisis Line (English/Spanish): (800) 553-9387
Website: www.wingspan.org
Email: avp@wingspan.org

The Wingspan Anti-Violence Project (AVP) is a social change and social service program that works to address and end violence in the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. The AVP provides free and confidential 24-hour crisis intervention, information, support, referrals, emergency shelter, and advocacy to LGBT victims/survivors of sexual assault and other types of violence. Additionally, Wingspan offers extensive outreach and education programs. All AVP services are available in English and Spanish. Se ofrecen todos los servicios de AVP en español.

LEGAL RESOURCES

Human Rights Advocate Service
P.O. Box 5842
Tucson, AZ 85703
Office: (520) 358-4685
E-mail: rgrc860@aol.com

Human Rights Advocate Services provides services to inmates in Arizona who are victims of sexual assault while incarcerated. Services provided free of charge include: basic legal research, investigative services, public records searches, federal freedom of information act requests, Arizona public records act requests, and attorney referrals. Inmates should send a short letter stating their concern and what help is requested. Supporting documents should not be sent.

Lambda Legal: Western Regional Office
3325 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1300
Los Angeles, CA 90010-1729
Phone: (213) 382-7600
Fax: (213) 351-6050
Website: www.lambdalegal.org
E-mail: legalhelpdesk@lambdalegal.org

Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people, and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work. Western Regional Office provides services for those who are located in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Help Desk Hours (Pacific Standard Time):
Mondays: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Tuesdays: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Wednesdays: 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Thursdays: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Friday: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

If Help Desk staff are busy helping other callers, your call will be routed to the Legal Help Desk voicemail. Please leave the following information: name, state, contact info, best time to reach you, and a brief message outlining your legal inquiry. A Help Desk staff person will return your call.

It is usually most efficient for Help Desk callers to contact Lambda Legal by phone. If you are in a place where you are not able to make long distance calls, Lambda can make an appointment to call you. If you are absolutely unable to call, you may e-mail the organization at legalhelpdesk@lambdalegal.org or write to the addresses above.

State Bar of Arizona: Lawyer Locator and Referral Resources
4201 N. 24th St., Suite 200
Phoenix, AZ 850166288
Office (Maricopa County): (602) 252-4804
Toll Free (OUtside of Maricop County): (866) 482-9227

Southern Regional Office:
270 N. Church Ave., Suite 100
Tuscon, AZ 857012215
Office: (520) 623-9944
Website: www.azbar.org/LegalResources/findlawyer.cfm
Email: azbar@azbar.org

The State Bar of Arizona is a non-profit organization that operates under the supervision of the Arizona Supreme Court. The Bar regulates approximately 13,000 active attorneys in Arizona and provides education and development programs for the legal profession and the public. The Bar and its members are committed to serving the public by making sure the voices of all people in Arizona are heard in our justice system. To search for at attorney in the state of Arizona, use the Lawyer Locator on the State Bar of Arizona website or contact the State Bar via mail

Maricopa County Bar Association
Office: (602) 257-4434

Pima County Bar Association
177 N. Church Avenue, #101 Tucson, AZ 85701
Office: (520) 623-4625

Both the Maricopa and Pima County Bar Associations provide information on lawyers or legal service providers who offer low-cost, no-cost, or self-help services. Some low-cost and no-cost resources require you to meet certain income or other qualifications before services can be provided.

Self-Service Center, Maricopa County Superior Court
101 West Jefferson, 4th Floor
Phoenix, AZ
Office: (602) 506-7353

The Self-Service Center provides citizens with plain-English instructions, forms, and assistance for a variety of legal procedures. The Center also maintains a list of lawyers willing to advise self-represented individuals on a per-hour, non-retained basis.

GOVERNMENT RESOURCES

Criminal Investigation Unit, Office of the Inspector General
Arizona Department of Corrections
1601 W. Jefferson
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Office: (602) 542-1160

The Arizona Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General is comprised of various units responsible for the overall policing of the prison system through criminal, administrative, and background investigations; intelligence gathering; prison audits and policy; and maintenance of fire and safety standards. The Criminal Investigations Unit is responsible for investigation of all crimes that occur within the state’s prisons, as well as investigations of inmate protective segregation cases.

CCA: More Sexual Abuse of Prisoners.

So, small town Arizona - are you sure this is who you want to have as your grandchild's employer - or you niece's incarcerator? Want the CCA warden to be your mayor? You can someday be known like Otter Creek will be - as that town where all those women were raped in prison. 

If we as individuals aided and abetted in multiple sexual assaults and/or covering them up, we would - and should - be prosecuted. But as a corporate entity, while Corrections Corporation of America has the rights of a human (more than prisoners, I would say), it seems to have to take no responsibility for its actions whatsoever - maybe a little hit in the cash box once in awhile. The towns that host these places and turn their backs on the prisoners inside also seem to have no sense of responsibility for what happens, so long as they get what they wanted out of the deal.

The summation that the main source of all the sexual abuse is that there weren’t enough female officers at Otter Creek presumes that their male officers can’t and shouldn’t be trusted to conduct themselves professionally without a constant check on their behavior in place, preventing the opportunity for sexual abuse to even arise – which there should be, both for theirs and the prisoners' protection. But what’s the point of having male officers if they can’t be trusted unsupervised and are really sexual predators in the making? There's more going on than that. What about prisons or law enforcement attracts or produces brutal, exploitative people like them? 

The “solution” to the problems at Otter Creek  strikes me as ludicrous - rape isn't just about sex, it's about power, control, violence. There's no reason to believe that swapping genders of prisoners at Otter Creek will prevent further abuse of prisoners; I fully expect the men to be abused there as well, just in different ways. The problem is in the contempt they have for prisoners and the whole culture of incarceration. It's also embedded in the primary purpose of the corporation: to confine and control the greatest number of prisoners at the least possible cost for the greatest possible profit to shareholders (they give a cut to the host town, too, of course, to make sure they keep everyone’s hands equally bloody). That’s it. That’s what they do. That makes anyone who enters their facility in the wrong color jump suit a source of revenue, not a human being. 

 CCA can corrupt everyone, even those who resist...they will, if you let them. I'd argue that in engaging the resistance primarily around issues of economics and public safety (the town's, not the prisoners'), they've already corrupted the debate by avoiding the human rights implications of profiting from the oppression and exploitation of mass numbers of people. Punishment is problematic enough as it is when just the state does the job. 

This stuff with Otter Creek is glossed over in this article (though that's our Ken from PCWG giving them hell). There's no excuse for allowing CCA to continue to operate anything there. If you’re living in a town they have their sights set on for a prison, beware. The devil talks up a sweet deal and makes it go down easy with cold hard cash and visions of a thriving town and stable middle class – but you can bet that given who’s selling, it’s still going to land you in hell if you buy it. 

 

 

So, isn't having this charming monster move into your community more of a threat to public welfare and safety than the "prisoner families" that so often get trashed in local rags and private prison resistance movements?

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Kentucky removing women from private Otter Creek prison

January 8, 2010

By Stephenie Steitzer

ssteitzer@courier-journal.com

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Gov. Steve Beshear announced Friday that the state will move more than 400 women prisoners out of the privately run Otter Creek Correctional Center, amid allegations of sexual misconduct by male workers there.

The women prisoners will be transferred to the state-run Western Kentucky Correctional Complex in Fredonia this summer — and the nearly 700 male inmates there will be moved to Otter Creek in Eastern Kentucky, which has 656 beds, and other prisons in the state, he said.

At least six workers at Otter Creek have been criminally charged with sex-related crimes involving inmates at the facility, run by Nashville-based Corrections Corp. of America.

Kentucky State Police spokesman Mike Goble said Friday that state police expect to present another case to a Floyd County grand jury next month.

“There is no place for this kind of behavior in our system,” Beshear said Friday.

He said the move would save taxpayers “millions of dollars” a year because the state would pay CCA less per day for males than females.

But Justice Cabinet Secretary J. Michael Brown acknowledged the private company that operates Otter Creek could end up making more money off the deal, because the state would likely house more male prisoners at Otter Creek than it had female prisoners.

Ken Kopczynski, executive director of the Private Corrections Institute, a Florida-based anti-privatization group, said he believes the deal rewards Otter Creek for failing to protect female inmates from alleged sexual abuse.

He said the state should've sanctioned Corrections Corp. of America for not being able to meet the terms of the contract struck last fall, which included minimum staffing levels and female worker ratios.

The state's contract with CCA allows the state to fine the company up to $5,000 a day, but it has never imposed any staffing-level sanctions.

“It's an abdication of the state's responsibility first off to hold the vendors to the contract and then to reward them for bad performance,” Kopczynski said.

Corrections Corp. of America has been under fire since last summer after multiple inmates at Otter Creek made allegations that they were sexual assaulted by corrections officers and other workers there.

A Department of Corrections investigation found that authorities at the prison failed to investigate seven alleged incidents of sexual contact between workers and inmates since 2007.

In four of those cases, the workers involved were fired. But investigations, required under the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act, were not conducted.

The state of Hawaii moved its nearly 200 women prisoners out of Otter Creek, in part because of the incidents. Kentucky officials, however, extended its contract with CCA for one year last fall.

Brown said officials are in the process of renegotiating its contract under the new arrangement. He said he hopes to have the contract in place by July 1, the start of next fiscal year.

Beshear attributed some of the problems at Otter Creek to the lack of female corrections officers and said that because the state pays more than CCA, it would have an easier time recruiting female corrections officers to work at the Western Kentucky prison.

However Corrections Commissioner LaDonna Thompson said she doesn't expect to hire additional officers and would instead transfer female workers from nearby prisons if necessary.

“We think this change will pay off in better management for inmates,” Beshear said.

When the state extended the Otter Creek contract with CCA in the fall, it said it was requiring CCA to raise its ratio of female workers.

Brown did not answer when asked whether CCA was having difficulty meeting the new requirement.

“All I can say is we presented CCA what our intent was and asked them to partner with us,” he said. “They are very much on board in that effort, I can tell you that.”

CCA issued a statement Friday applauding the new arrangement.

“CCA welcomes the opportunity to continue meeting Kentucky's correctional needs at Otter Creek,” said Steve Conry, a vice president of operations.

The new arrangement could benefit CCA because the state likely will fill all 653 beds — including the 180 have been vacant since Hawaii pulled its inmates last year.

But Brown and Beshear said taxpayers will still come out ahead by as much as $2.2 million annually after the first year, even if CCA's contract grows.

“They may come out with more, but nothing they come out with is going to be to the detriment of the commonwealth,” Brown said. “The governor has already indicated that right now we are going to be operating … at less funds than we had before. I certainly don't have any more money to give away.”

Justice Cabinet spokeswoman Jennifer Brislin added later that the state also would save money by pulling female inmates out of local jails, where the state pays counties a per diem, and housing them at the Western Kentucky center.

The state will have to pay to modify the plumbing there to accommodate women prisoners; officials didn't have a cost estimate Friday.

Reporter Stephenie Steitzer can be reached at (502) 875-5136.