Merrywives’ Blog

Kirk Torgenson with the Utah Attorney General’s Office gave a presentation about “Polygamy Victimization” at this year’s NOVA Conference.  We do not have the transcript from his presentation but Brooke Adams’ blog gave us some information about what he talked about.

The following exceprt is from her blog:

Kirk Torgensen, chief deputy in the Utah Attorney General’s Office, spoke Tuesday at the National Organization For Victim Assistance conference, being held in Salt Lake City.

His topic? “Polygamy Victimization.”

Former plural wife Carolyn Jessop also spoke. More on her in the next post. But here is a recap of what Torgensen had to say.

He credited Carolyn for opening his eyes — even changing his life — to what was going in in the twin towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.

Think about a world in which young girls are raised with very little freedom and, when they reach 13 or 14 or 15, are told by a prophet to marry a much older man because “it’s just the way it is,” Torgensen said.

In the twin towns, young people don’t have the freedom, the constitutional right, to live the way they want to, he said.

Click here to read the entire blog entry.

Here is the Centennial Park Action Committee’s response:

This is a statement from the Centennial Park Action Committee. Any comments or questions can be forwarded to cpac@cpaz.net

Last week there was a conference in Salt Lake City put on by NOVA- the National Organization of Victim Assistance. Kirk Torgensen, Chief Deputy, Mark Shurtleff’s right hand man in the Utah AGs office, was the lead speaker for a presentation on “Polygamy Victimization.”

Mr Torgensen’s presentation was very disappointing, filled as it was with a rhetoric and bias that seemed more fitting of a time BEFORE the thousands of hours spent building bridges by the Attorney General’s office, Safety Net, and countless organizations and individual people. So many people have made a concerted effort to reach out to allay the mistrust and fear that comes from misunderstanding one another. We are surprised, considering Mr. Torgensen’s position as a public servant, by his willingness to jeopardize this work and to further marginalize people who were not there to speak for themselves.

Mr. Torgensen talked about “by their fruits you will know them.” We have hoped that our fruits have shown us to be sincere and willing to engage in this bridge-building dialogue. We have worked to open our lives that we might replace the stereotypes with truth, the suspicion with cooperation. We readily acknowledge that we started this project with doubts and a measure of our own bias. We have appreciated getting to know the many people who have worked on our behalf to bring services to our community, who have put aside their uncertainties to truly listen to us, and who have had a genuine interest in our wellbeing. If we have not said it clearly enough before, “Thank you.” We value these blessings.

Frankly, we feel that Mr. Torgensen’s presentation highlights a lack in our efforts to reach out and educate individuals and officials on the nature of our lives and culture. When we hear elected officials continue to encourage others to participate in the prejudice, we struggle to not slide back into the cautions and concerns of yesteryears. Openness begins to feel like exposure and vulnerability. So we invite Mr. Torgensen to let us know what we can do to alleviate his concerns and hope that in the future he will use a more even-handed approach to discussions he holds under the auspice of his public duties.