Forked Tongues - Richard L. Davis - MensNewsDaily.com™

September 4, 2004

by Richard L. Davis

Lying is done with words and also with silence.
- Adrienne Rich

The following is on the Massachusetts Jane Doe Inc. website http://www.janedoe.org/about.htm

Jane Doe Inc. is a catalyst for change. Through our network of direct service providers, business partners, health professionals, law enforcement and government officials, school teachers and concerned individuals, we amplify the voices of those committed to breaking the silence and ending domestic violence and sexual assault.

We raise awareness, engage people to take action, increase access to and improve the delivery of services, act as a clearinghouse of information, promote efforts to address the needs of underserved communities, and advocate for public and private funding and improved policies and practices in the public and private sectors.

Jane Doe Inc. places a high priority on building bridges with and among our members as well as with allied organizations, government agencies and the private sector. We engage with our allies to address issues of health care, affordable housing, homelessness, economic development, civil rights including those for the disabled and immigrants. By drawing the connections between these concerns and the needs of sexual assault and domestic violence survivors, we share in the task of reaching solutions that integrate rather than divide our efforts.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

While Jane Doe publicly proclaims it is concerned about male victims of abuse, it is often committed to keeping the silence, ignoring the truth and dividing rather than uniting us. On the Jane Doe website under “Learn More” http://www.janedoe.org/know.htm, Jane Doe prominently reports that 1 in 5 female high school students report being physically and/or sexually abused by a dating partner.

What Jane Doe Inc. does not report is that the same study documents 1 in 10 male high school students report being physically and/or sexually abused by a dating partner. Why hide the truth with half-truths? As a father of three daughters and two boys I ask the following:

Why does Jane Doe Inc. purposely hide the truth?

Why does Jane Doe Inc. think that half a truth a true catalyst for change?

Why does Jane Doe Inc. think that misstatement will build, not burn bridges?

Why does Jane Doe Inc. think half truths will accurately raise awareness?

Why does Jane Doe Inc. think that half a truth will unite not divide us?

Why are half truths told, while the direct service providers, business partners, health professionals, law enforcement, government officials, school teachers and other concerned individuals continue to sit around oblivious to the truth, the whole truth, and noting but the truth? Is there really not a single public policy maker, not one, anywhere in this nation that cares equally about our young boys and girls? Why do so many domestic violence advocates ignore ethical and moral integrity in the guise of public service? If Jane Doe does care as much about our sons as our daughters, why the half truth?

Richard L. Davis served in the United States Marine Corps from 1960 to 1964. He is a retired lieutenant from the Brockton, Massachusetts police department. He has a graduate degree in criminal justice from Anna Maria College and another in liberal arts from Harvard University. He has a BA from Bridgewater State College in History and he minored in secondary education. He is a member of the International Honor Society of Historians and an instructor of Criminology, Group Violence and Terrorism, Criminal Justice and Domestic Violence at Quincy College in Plymouth, MA. He is a past president of the Community Center for Non-Violence in New Bedford, Massachusetts and the vice president for Family Nonviolence, Inc. www.familynonviolence.com in Fairhaven, MA. He is an independent consultant for criminal justice agencies concerning policies, procedures, and programs concerning domestic violence. He is the author of Domestic Violence: Facts and Fallacies by Praeger publishers and has written numerous articles for newspapers, journals, and magazines concerning the issue of domestic violence. He has columns concerning domestic violence at www.policeone.com, and www.nycop.com, is a distance learner instructor in Introduction to Criminal Justice and Domestic Violence for the Online Police Academy and has a website at www.policewriter.com. He and Kim Eyer have a domestic violence website The Cop and the Survivor at http://www.rhiannon3.net/cs/. He lives in Plymouth, Massachusetts with his wife and the two youngest of five children. He experienced domestic violence professionally for 21 years as a police officer and personally as a child and as an adult. In his retirement he continues to use his education, experience, and training to help the children, women, and men who have had to endure violence from those who profess to love them. He may be reached at rldavis@post.harvard.edu.