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Reem Alsalem

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Reem Alsalem
Born1976 (age 47–48)
Cairo, Egypt
EducationThe American University in Cairo
University of Oxford
EmployerUnited Nations
TitleUnited Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women
Term2021–
PredecessorDubravka Šimonovic

Reem Alsalem (born 1976) is a Jordanian independent consultant and former civil servant. Since August 2021 she has served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls.

Biography

Alsalem was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1976.[1] She was educated at The American University in Cairo where she completed a master's degree in International Relations in 2001. She subsequently graduated from the University of Oxford in 2003 with a Masters in Human Rights Law.[2]

She was employed for 17 years as an international civil servant by the UNHCR where she worked with refugees in 13 countries.[3][4] She left in 2016 to work as an independent consultant on humanitarian and gender issues.[5] She speaks Arabic, English, French, German and Spanish.[3]

Alsalem was appointed United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls and took up the role in August 2021.[5]

Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls

Core to her work as special rapporteur are her claims that sex and gender should not be conflated, and that both should be recorded in data.[6] She considers that in some situations there may be a clash between women's rights and transgender rights.[6]

She opposed the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill and claimed it could "open the door for violent males."[7] Her views were disputed by the United Nations Independent Expert on sexual orientation and gender identity, Victor Madrigal-Borloz, and the spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights who said that "everyone (...) should have access to legal recognition of their gender identity based on self-identification."[7] Six feminist organizations in Scotland—Engender, JustRight Scotland, Scottish Women's Rights Centre, Scottish Women's Aid, Amnesty International Scotland and Rape Crisis Scotland—also expressed disappointment by Alsaleem's comments, accusing her of failing to speak with Scottish human rights or feminist organisations before her statements.[8] In 2023 Alsalem attended the gender-critical FiLiA conference, amid protests against the conference.[9]

According to the New Statesman, "her insistence on recognising the difference between sex and gender has landed her in trouble."[6] In 2023 an open letter published by the Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID),[10][11] endorsed by several hundred NGOs and women's groups, accused her of being "anti-trans", which she denies.[11][6] An open letter published by Sex Matters supported her position.[12][11] Alsalem asks why is it "problematic" for people to say: "This is important; many of our needs emanate from being female, or male, and there are certain instances where it’s proportionate, legitimate and perfectly necessary to keep a space single sex".[6] Legal scholar Jens Theilen said that Alsalem "is using women's rights as a tool to undermine trans rights" and considered her actions "a stark example of individual politics furthering rather than contesting oppression," citing the AWID letter.[13]

Alsalem was criticised in 2023 by Claire Waxman, London's Victims' Commissioner, as she did not speak out on reports of sexual and gender-based violence in the 7 October attack on Israel against Israeli women during and following the Hamas-led attack.[6] In response, Alsalem said she had condemned "what happened on 7 October", had contacted NGOs in Israel without reply, and said she could not make "sweeping statements" without receiving evidence.[6]

In 2024, Alsalem said that "grave violations of international human rights and humanitarian law" had been committed in Gaza by Israeli troops.[6] In a formal statement, she described "credible" allegations of "multiple forms of sexual assault", such as rape and strip-searches, against Palestinian women and girls.[6][14] When asked to provide the source for her allegations, Alsalem cited unsubstantiated reports by Richard A. Falk.[15] Israel denied the allegations.[6][16]

In January 2024, Alsalem criticised the composition of a World Health Organization (WHO) committee, saying that most committee members had "strong, one-sided views in favour of promoting hormonal gender transition and legal recognition of self-asserted gender" and that none of them was an expert in adolescent development.[17] Author Helen Joyce supported Alsalem, emphasising from her letter "the short time-frame given for comments, the unbalanced group developing the guidelines and the uncritical endorsement of gender self-ID".[18]

In February 2024, Alsalem criticised the UK's strategies for combatting violence against women and girls. She said: "Entrenched patriarchy at almost every level of society, combined with a rise in misogyny that permeates the physical and online world, is denying thousands of women and girls across the UK the right to live in safety, free from fear and violence".[19]

She was one of the many UN experts who spoke out against the sale of arms to Israel in June 2024 as a result of the conflict in Gaza. The experts cautioned arms suppliers and finance companies that they would be implicated in human rights violations. The list included special reporteurs Paula Gaviria Betancur, Tlaleng Mofokeng, Mary Lawlor, Margaret Satterthwaite and Francesca Albanese.[20]

References

  1. ^ Plaza Casares, Sara (19 December 2021). "Reem Alsalem: "En España los testimonios de padres presuntos abusadores tienen más credibilidad que los de las madres que denuncian los abusos"". El Salto. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls". Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Reem Alsalem". The Brussels Binder. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Reem Alsalem". European Institute for Gender Equality. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Reem Alsalem". Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnes, Hannah (24 February 2024). "Reem Alsalem on the biggest obstacles to ending violence against women". New Statesman. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  7. ^ a b "UN chief backs Scottish government's gender recognition reforms". BBC. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  8. ^ "Scottish feminists hit back at UN gender recognition warning". The National. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  9. ^ "JK Rowling speaks at FiLiA feminist conference labelled 'transphobic'". The National. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  10. ^ "There Is No Place for Anti-Trans Agendas in the UN". Association for Women's Rights in Development. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  11. ^ a b c Alsalem, Reem. "Statement by Reem Alsalem" (PDF). Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  12. ^ "Let the UN Special Rapporteur on VAWG Deliver her Mandate" (PDF). sex-matters.org. Sex Matters. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  13. ^ Theilen, Jens (2024). "Intersectionality's Travels to International Human Rights Law". Michigan Journal of International Law. 45 (2). A stark example of individual politics furthering rather than contesting oppression is found in the work of the current Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, Reem Alsalem, who is using women's rights as a tool to undermine trans rights; see the protest letter AWID, There Is No Place for Anti-Trans Agendas in the UN (2023)
  14. ^ "Israel/oPt: UN experts appalled by reported human rights violations against Palestinian women and girls". United Nations. 19 February 2024. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  15. ^ Jerusalem Post, The (6 March 2024). "UN Special Rapporteur 'unaware' of rocket attacks on Israel". www.jpost.com. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  16. ^ Algemeiner, The (20 February 2024). "Israel Denies UN Report Claiming Israeli Forces Assaulted Palestinian Women - Algemeiner.com". www.algemeiner.com. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  17. ^ Gentleman, Amelia (9 January 2024). "UN envoy criticises 'one-sided' WHO approach to trans health guidelines". theguardian.com. The Guardian. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  18. ^ Martin, Daniel (9 January 2024). "WHO 'putting women at risk' with trans self-ID plan, says UN expert". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  19. ^ Abdul, Geneva (29 February 2024). "'I am weary': Jess Phillips reads MPs list of women killed by men for ninth year". theguardian.com. Guardian. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  20. ^ "States and companies must end arms transfers to Israel immediately or risk responsibility for human rights violations: UN experts". 20 June 2024. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
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