Please stop supporting Gregory Sherl. Please take a stand for the women who have suffered deep irrepreable damage because of this man’s actions. Please take a stand for all women everywhere, for all victims of abuse, for all future victims – we don’t doubt that Sherl and men like him will continue harming others – it’s just a matter of how many and who condones the behavior. As of now you are condoning it. You are complicit in his actions. Please Stop.
Vote NO to Violence Against Women & Tell Oprah Magazine & Algonquin Books to Stop Supporting Serial Abuser Gregory Sherl
This is the email I sent to Oprah Magazine’s last week, both the web editor and the book reviewer. I gave them the benefit of the doubt, assuming they didn’t know they were promoting the book of an abuser, since Algonquin Books has refused to publicly cut ties with him. I was respectful. I was patient. I have waited nine days and have not heard back. Kat has not heard back, since she and I also both sent messages via the website itself. The people who left comments on the website, respectfully urging editors to research Gregory Sherl & reconsider promoting his book, have also been silenced, their comments since deleted. Others’ comments continue to be denied approval.
And this is why we end up having to call individuals & organizations out via public platforms – because private correspondence results in nothing. And silence is part of how abusers like Sherl & Ghomeshi are able to do what they do so easily and for so long. Silence is what helps perpetuate the cycle. Nobody puts the pressure on. Nobody wants to confront. Nobody wants to “get involved.” I call that complacency & enabling & it’s disgusting. It doesn’t matter what you “want.” The women who are abused & assaulted don’t WANT that either. But it happens. It happened. It’s fucking happening. Now wake the fuck up & do something about it. How many women will it take? You waiting for more bruises? You waiting for someone to die? ENOUGH.
Your Silence Makes You Complicit: Algonquin Books & Their Continued Support of Serial Rapist & Abuser Gregory Sherl
Algonquin Books refuses to make a public statement regarding their complicity in Gregory Sherl’s abuse of women, even though I’ve made clear that he especially preys on women who admire his work. At first I was patient because Gregory is incredibly charming and he no doubt manipulated those he was in business with but at this point I have entirely dismissed Algonquin Books as a respectable press. What else is there to say? What is there to discuss? I went as far as showing you the bed where he raped me, the bed I have to sleep in every night. And I am not a stranger to them – they know who I am and have easy access to all my contact information since I was their beloved author’s fiancee & personal caretaker for a very long winter. At the time of our relationship they acknowledged my existence because the fact that he was engaged to a “grounded” person helped his story/helped their story/helped them go ahead w/ their book & not have to address the issue. They didn’t even consider that HE MIGHT ALSO BE ABUSING ME. They completely dismissed Kat Dixon’s allegations because it was the convenient thing to do. Now I am free and have spoken the truth, reiterated the other victims’ truths, and nothing. As if they cannot be bothered. As if there is still something to consider. How many women does it take for one story to be heard?
Anyway I am continuing to speak to them publicly on Twitter because private conversations with them result in nothing. They say “we acknowledge there has been suffering.” Yeah. So fuckin’ what? Your private “acknowledgement” is just another way to sweep us back under the rug. You won’t even cancel his reading on behalf of a victim who works at the bookstore where he read. She asked privately. No one helped her.
I feel like this all sounds too crazy to sound true but it is all true. This is the shit that goes down “in private.”
Fuck the whole lot of them. Women’s lives are more important than these fucked up “business” practices. <<<<—-why should I have to say that? why isn’t this the way things are?