This poem reminds us of our commitment to the development of the NRV-CAC.

Promises, Promises

I asked you for help
And you told you would
If I told you the things
My daddy did to me.
It was really hard for me
To say al those things,
But you told me to trust you
Then you made me repeat them
To fourteen different strangers.

I asked you for privacy
And you sent me two policemen
To my school, in front of everyone
To go "downtown" for a talk
In their black and white car
Like I was the one being busted.

I asked you to believe me
And you said you did.
Then you connected m to a lie detector,
And took me to court, where lawyers
Put me on trial like I was a liar
I can’t help it if I couldn’t remember times,
dates, or explain why I couldn’t tell my mom.
Your questions got me confused--
My confusion got you suspicious.

I asked for help
And you gave me a doctor
With cold metal gadgets and cold hands,
Who spread my legs and stared, just like my father.
Who said it wouldn’t hurt, just like my father.
He said I look fine--
Good new for me you said,
Bad news for my "case".

(McFarlane, 1982)