May 08, 2006

A half truth is a whole lie.
Yiddish Proverb

Liz Claiborne Inc. commissioned a Teen Relationship Abuse Survey that was conducted in March of 2006. When you view the page, in the lower left hand section you will find an explanation concerning why Liz Claiborne Inc. always refers to our sons as abusers and our daughters as their victims.

Abuser = He

Victim = She

Why?

Cherry Picking Data Click on the above section of their website and a box will emerge that claims:

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) estimates that more than 90% of all domestic violence victims are female and that most abusers are male. Because of this we use he when referring to abusers. Whether the victim is female or male, violence of any kind is unacceptable.

That DOJ data cited above has been cherry picked from reams of DOJ, National Institute of Justice and Bureau of Justice Statistics criminal and self reporting data because it fits the ideological feminist claim – men/boys are abusers and women/girls are victims that Liz Claiborne Inc. steadfastly adheres to. To continue with that ideology Liz Claiborne must manipulate the findings of the survey it commissioned.

Liz Claiborne Inc. is aware that the U.S. Department of Justice does not claim, estimate nor document that 90% of “domestic violence” victims are females at the hands of males. In fact the Liz Claiborne Inc. Teen Relationship Abuse Survey clearly documents the mythology of that claim.

Liz Claiborne Inc. does express concerns about our daughters. However, Liz Claiborne Inc. also willfully and purposely presents what it claims are “key findings.” In reality these “key findings” are intended to minimize and ignore both the offending by our daughters and the victimization of our sons.

Astounding Spinning

Liz Claiborne Inc. claims that, “The findings [of their survey] were astounding,” What is actually astounding is how the Liz Claiborne Inc. “key findings” ignore the victimization of our sons. When you read what Liz Claiborne Inc. claims are the “key finding” of their survey and then compare these “key findings” with the “real findings” of their own survey, you may question the ethical and moral behavior of Liz Claiborne Inc. concerning the safety of our daughters and our sons.

Spinning The Cherry Picked Data

Liz Claiborne Inc. presents as a key findings:

FACT: 1 in 3 girls who have been in a serious relationship say they’ve been concerned

about [italics added] being physically hurt by their partner.

The first real fact is that the Liz Claiborne Inc. survey provides no definition of just what is a “serious” relationship is. Hence, any differences reported in a “relationship” and a “serious relationship” is left to be viewed in the eye of the beholder.

Liz Claiborne Inc. claims as fact that 1 in 3 (35%) of our daughters report (a fear of) being concerned about their safety. What Liz Claiborne Inc. does not include as a fact is that their survey documents that 1 in 4 (25%) of our sons also report (a fear of) being concerned about their safety.

Not Telling You, What They Do Not Want You To Know

In bold at the top of page 11 is:

Of teens that have been in a relationship, a troublesome 30% (including more girls than guys) said they’ve been concerned for their physical safety.

You might call me a grassy knoll crazy kind of guy but, why write (girls) and then change (boys) to (guys.) It is either girls and boys or gals and guys. Liz Claiborne Inc. claims it is concerned about the use of all violence and victimization. Is it that Liz Claiborne Inc. considers the fear of our daughter’s safety unacceptable violence while our son’s actually being physically assaulted is acceptable violence?

On page 11, the survey documents that 17% of boys and 13% of females report that their partner hit, slapped or pushed them. How is it that Liz Claiborne Inc. concludes that the “fear” of victimization by our daughters is a “key finding” and the actually physical victimization of our sons is ignored?

Perhaps someone at Liz Claiborne Inc. might email me and tell me why Liz Claiborne intends to minimize and marginalize the victimization of our sons in their Love is Not Abuse curriculum in 350 schools nationwide in 2006?

What is the reason that Liz Claiborne Inc. ignores the fact that their own “Teen Relationship Abuse Survey” clearly disputes their ideological claim that 90% of the abusers are male? And what are the reasons that the Liz Claiborne Inc. “key finding facts,” conceals both the offending of our daughters and the victimization of our sons? Is it possible that Liz Claiborne has made a mercantile rather than a moral decision?

Part II in this series will explore power and control issues.

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 liberal arts from Harvard University and a second in criminal justice from Anna Maria College. He is a member of the International Honor Society of Historians and the American Society of Criminology. He is a college instructor for Quincy College at Plymouth, MA in Criminology, Criminal Justice and Domestic Violence. He is the vice president for Family Nonviolence, Inc. in Fairhaven, MA. He is also the vice president for the Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men and Women.

He is an independent consultant for criminal justice domestic violence policies, procedures, and programs. 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 http://www.policeone.com, and http://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. He and Kim Eyer have a domestic violence website The Cop and the Survivor.

He lives in Plymouth, Massachusetts with his wife the 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 here.

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