This is a recent email exchange between me and the director of a local women's organization. I have known her for a few years and have had mostly cordial discussions with her. She has advocated for many causes and people. She has provided support letters for me on numerous occasions for help with housing, employment and other issues.
Despite all of her education and work experience, and my having talked to her about voyeurism for a couple of years, due to the mainstream media's suppression of the extent of the problem of voyeurism and the resulting lack of awareness even among organizations that are supposed to help women, this is the best I can hope for from this agency:
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Dear Lena,I apologize for the delay, I drafted an email and got lost in the shuffle of all the moving parts this month. I am still employed by the (name of women's agency), and I am still unable to write a letter with the wording you desire. Without seeing cameras myself, I cannot say whether they are there or not, and cannot speak with any authority on the matter. I believe you are experiencing what you tell me you are experiencing because you are telling me, and I am listening - but belief is not language I can use in a formal support letter.I have no formal or personal connection with BARCC, but I would be happy to write a letter in support of you that states you are intelligent, credible, and in need of support. I can write that I have known you to be hard working, resilient, and knowledgeable about the issues you are facing. I have seen you pull yourself out of homelessness, excel at jobs, and manage very difficult circumstances. If this seems like something you would like, let me know and I can work on a draft.
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(To the Director)I haven't heard from you in response to my email asking if, now that you'll be leaving the (women's agency) you're willing to tell BARCC that you believe that there are hidden, illegal cameras in my apartment, so that I can get a lawyer through BARCC instead of being blown off as a nutcase.After many months of equivocating, you finally did assert in so many words, in multiple emails, that you believe that there are hidden, illegal cameras in my current apartment. Then what you did was say that the Board of the (women's agency) restricted you from taking an active role in helping me get concrete help to stop this disgusting violation of my rights and to prevent it from happening to other people in this building.Lena
