Since October 2017, we have seen some strong feminist movements gain momentum, like #TimesUp and #MeToo. Women are calling out sexual predators and abusers, and the men are finally facing some consequences. But this had been limited to mostly the US, until yesterday. Poet Sakina Bootwala exposed the many instances of sexual misconduct by Shamir Reuben on social media yesterday.
Shamir, who is a well-known slam poet and a member of Kommune, has been called out by a number of women along with Sakina for harassment. In a long Facebook post, Sakina wrote, “An extremely well-known face of the community, who speaks about women empowerment, equality and pretty much all the other relevant social issues there are, is a closet predator who preys on young, naive girls, of whom a lot were minors when he sexted them, coerced them into sending him nude pictures, and in some cases even forced himself on them.”
She shared how Reuben made sexual overtures to her despite her trying to shut it down and urged other women to speak up if they had suffered something similar. To her surprise, she got an overwhelming response from several women, with some of them even sending her screenshots of Reuben’s texts. There were so many stories that she had to make a second FB post to be able to include all the screenshots since Facebook only allows 30 pictures to be posted in one post.
Here is Sakina’s post:
Here is the second post she made:
Reuben’s friend Harnidh Kaur, a well-known poet herself, also took to Facebook in solidarity with the women and for all those who had raised their voice against Reuben.
Here are Harnidh’s posts:
Kommune also issued a post on Facebook condemning Reuben’s behaviour and announced that his role in the community has been suspended pending investigation.
After 24 hours of the outrage, Reuben took to Facebook to post what looks like an explanation and not an apology.
Here is Reuben’s post: