Burroughs Honored by New Jersey Victim Center
In his own words:
On Thursday evening April 7, I attended the annual dinner of the Center for Traumatic Grief and Victim Services of South Jersey founded and headed by Ms. Kathy Garcia. The dinner was held in the ballroom of the Regency Hotel and was attended by over 200 individuals. Most of the attendees were from within the victim advocacy power structure of southern New Jersey. There were prosecutors, chiefs of police, legislators or their representatives, victim advocates and governmental agency heads. At my table, among others was the newly appointed head of the New Jersey Victims Service Agency, a member of the New Jersey Victims of Crime Compensation Board and a therapist turned female undercover drug investigator.
The Center for Traumatic Grief and Victim Services was founded approximately 15 years ago by Kathy Garcia and colleagues originally as South Jersey Survivors of Violent Crime and changed to its present name as they began to expand services over the last few years to individuals who had lost a loved one to nonviolent but unexpected death. Kathy was one of the key figures in getting the NJ Victims Rights statute passed back in the late 1980's.
In any event, after a delicious dinner & fundraising auction, some awards and tokens of appreciation for services rendered over the past year were given to various individuals from the organization or community. As this wrapped up and I started thinking of my 1 1/2 hour drive home to Maryland Kathy began to tell the audience that she had one more award to announce. She prefaced with the remarks that it is an award not given out every year but only when she had the opportunity to give it to someone who had exhibited untiring and passionate efforts on behalf of victims. To my complete surprise she began to explain that this evening's recipient was a man she met 6 years ago at a conference in Los Angelos where he was "personing" a table with materials about male victims of domestic violence.
At this point, I realized she could only be speaking about me, given that that is exactly how Kathy and I first met. So I was soon asked to come up to the podium/stage to receive the James A. Meyers Memorial Award. It is a rather handsome plaque that states that it is awarded to David R. Burroughs J.D.
In Sincere Appreciation of His Passionate Efforts to
Secure, Protect & Advocate For the Rights of All Male
Victims of Domestic Violence
I must admit it was a rather emotional moment for me. After a decade of being villified, slandered and smeared by those who would perpetuate the gender based anti-male domestic violence system in this country I was being applauded by 200 people from within the establishment.
But what is more important and satisfying is the significance of the fact that we are now beginning to receive support and recognition from within the establishment. The establishment may not have us on their priority list and some of the folks in that room might not be even be sympathetic but we are starting to see people who do support our work, our effort, in positions of influence and policy making positions. And I might add that many people came up to me afterwards and very sincerely expressed their delight to meet me based on their own strong feelings about the need to recognize male victims.
It is a wonderful sign. We have much more to do but it confirms to me what I have always believed: That on the model of the civil rights movement of the 60's & 70's and the early feminist movement we must just keep chipping away at the bigotry and false myths and ultimately because of the rightness of our cause we will prevail.
Congratulations Dave! The honor is well deserved! -- TWS