Advocate gives victims of domestic violence a voice

When the Victim Services Division of the Pima County Attorney’s Office opens a northwest location in 2016, 24-year-old Deanna Lopez will spearhead it.

Lopez began working as a victim advocate in Domestic Violence Court after volunteering there as a University of Arizona undergrad.

At the new satellite office in the Oro Valley and Marana area, Lopez will train and work with a new hire to develop a municipal court advocacy program in the region. Advocates usually help victims of offenses such as assault, stalking, domestic violence or harassment through the criminal justice system, says Laura Penny, the director of the Pima County Attorney’s Victim Services Division.

A Spanish and psychology double major, Lopez didn’t know what she wanted to do professionally, but when she began volunteering in victim services before her May 2013 graduation, she discovered a passion for helping victims better understand their rights.

About eight months after graduation, a position opened for a domestic violence advocate.

“It’s a lot of talking to victims and explaining the criminal justice system and providing resources to them,” Lopez says. “It’s a lot of crisis counseling and letting them know they’re not alone and there are resources available to them in the community.”

Lopez is not a lawyer, but she works closely with law enforcement, prosecutors and judges. Speaking Spanish is another asset.

“We’re the go-between for lawyers and victims, and we’re always there for victims if they have questions or concerns they want to address,” she says. “Anything they want to talk about with us is confidential, and we don’t have to disclose it to law enforcement or the county attorney unless it’s exculpatory or we’re in fear for their safety.”

Before volunteer training as a UA senior, Lopez had no experience in this field. She had always respected law enforcement — her father is a Border Patrol agent — but had no idea how to talk to someone experiencing a crisis and no in-depth knowledge of the criminal justice system.

“I watched ‘Law & Order: SVU’ and all those crime shows, but it’s so different,” she says. “In ‘Law & Order: SVU’ the criminal justice system just goes by so fast. In reality it takes so much time.”

Lopez helps to train volunteers every spring and fall, often working with students from the UA or Pima Community College who are where she was not long ago.

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Now, she and another advocate handle 400 to 500 domestic violence cases at a time, assisting those victims through the court system.

“This is one of our highest volume caseloads, and it is a very challenging population to work with, and she volunteered for it,” Penny says. “She is beloved by the victims she supports.”

Lopez manages night and weekend crisis shifts occasionally, meaning that if law enforcement requests a victim advocate on site, she either organizes a team of volunteers or goes herself.

On scene, a victim advocate explains available resources, such as how to make funeral arrangements or enroll in a class about domestic violence.

“We are trained how to speak to people in crisis, and we leave brochures for them in case they aren’t in the state of mind to hear everything,” Lopez says.

Despite trauma, the people Lopez works with often surprise her with their openness. That can be difficult on a personal level.

“Working in this field, you get what we call vicarious trauma because you are around so much trauma,” Lopez says. “In domestic violence relationships especially, it’s because they still love this person even though they’re harming them, and they will usually go back to them, and that can be hard to see.”

But Lopez never shows it, Penny says. Her compassionate and professional demeanor does not waver.

“She shows up for them and is there for them, even though inside she may be thinking, ‘Please, don’t put yourself at risk again,’ ” Penny says.

Lopez decompresses with her coworkers and family — she is paying for her younger sister to be a member of a UA sorority — and Jax, a 6-month-old puppy she rescued. Reading and binge-watching Netflix also help.

“I like helping people, and I feel like these are the people that need to have their voices heard and need to have access to resources,” Lopez says of working with victims of domestic violence. “This is a crime that can affect everyone.”