Hi Everyone,

I am new to NOMSV and I guess I am perplexed that a National Organization that is keenly aware of the needs of male victims and been in existence for years has not reached the point where they have arranged with the City and State to provide resources for us guys. Woman have plenty of resources, therapy groups, etc to go to but men have almost nothing!!

What do our memebership dues go to?

Not sure where the dues go, but they are not too much for a years worth of dues. And you can use this site wo paying dues. It is very hard to start groups for men I know I have done it, and to keep any existing groups from ending. There are resourses out there and NOMSV is doing things, like having therapists register. A lot of times someone will post something on the board, and someone will help answer it if they are from their area. I am glad you found this place,
this is a big country with many men who were hurt because they were abused, no easy solution. Working together is what needs to happen. We are not alone. That is why men find there way here. Hope you can join us and be part of the solution.

I don't like not having any help for men who have been raped....women get it all...what is this????? A new thing, my mother told me that it was a men's thing and not to talk about it...go tell my father. He said that it was my fault and not to talk about it...that I caused it and was a little whore...I was 11 yo!!!!!!!

Now if everyone payed to use this site, like me and you...it would be less that 600 times about $50 = $30,000...what can they do with that...pay for this site and the chat room and the news letter...not much money left, if any! They can't be depending on dues alone?

It would be wonderfull if NOMSV started groups for men all over the country.....Maybe when there is lots more members...50,000+...Than, we would have some power to take some of the rape victom support money away from the girls but we are TOOOOOOOOOO SMALL to do much! Women get the money and we get none ...no one wants to talk about it!!!!!! Stay a member and direct others here, so we become strong!

Eddie

[ December 26, 2001: Message edited by: getteddie ]

Hi,

From reading the other postings I see some truth about the fact that money is needed to run this website with all its features and not everyone is a paying member yet they can still use it which is cool.

I guess the male movement is new and will take many more years before it gets off the ground like the womans movement. I guess all we can do is just post and share our pain-it sought of is like a group therapy session here so that is something.

I posted this response in the Forum News but I am repeating it here, as it is relevant to the discussion:

As of this point, NOMSV has received no grants of any kind (including government) except for a few very welcome small ones that were specific to the conference (e.g., Ambrose Foundation for the Keynote Speaker, Continental Airlines as a donation). We have applied for several grants but were turned down. Therefore, we have to be very careful about how we spend our limited financial resources, which chiefly come from membership fees, contributions, and conference fees. (We also get a percentage of all purchases made -- even of items not on our lists -- when you go to amazon.com through our Bookstore, so please enter amazon.com through us for ANY purchase.) Because of the success of the New York conference, for the first time we have some money on hand, though by the standards of many not-for-profits we are still small. We have only one paid employee, a part-time administrator. Everybody else is a volunteer, and we are very grateful to all who have given us their time.

Thus, we have had to make decisions about how to spend our human and financial resources -- if we went in all the directions that we would love to go in, nothing would get accomplished well. Our major new project at the moment is to develop our professional resource directory, because we constantly hear from survivors in out-of-way places (and even metropolitan areas) all over the world, asking for the names of therapists and other professionals. As you probably know, we have also started to offer survivor retreats. We are a very long way off from being able to open up a clinic of any kind.

For all these reasons, we need volunteer help from our members who have skills such as grant writing, or just enthusiasm and ability to be on a committee.

As for the location and timing of the conference, historically we have moved the conference from city to city because of the enormous amount of time it takes to organize the conference (with its personal toll on the organizers) as well as the importance of sending out our message in all parts of the US and Canada.

I hope this clarifies things, and I wish all a very healthy, safe, and prosperous New Year.

Richard Gartner, PhD
NOMSV president (starting 1/1/02)

[ December 29, 2001: Message edited by: RichardNYC ]