Liz Ortenburger has spent more than two decades working on the front lines of domestic and sexual violence — and she’s challenging some of the most deeply held assumptions about how we respond to it.
Ortenburger is the CEO of Safenest, Nevada's largest nonprofit addressing domestic violence. She oversees a broad continuum of services, from emergency shelter and legal advocacy to prevention education and offender intervention.
Ortenburger argues a system focused primarily on punishment after the fact is failing survivors and real safety requires addressing root causes, from trauma and addiction to cultural norms around power and control.
Her perspective comes at a time when the data hits close to home: here in Idaho, nearly a third of all crimes against persons are linked to intimate partner violence and many survivors never interact with law enforcement at all. With the future of federal funding through the Violence Against Women Act uncertain after 2027, questions about what’s working, and what isn’t, are more urgent than ever.
Ortenburger joined Idaho Matters to talk more.
