A tale of two rapporteurs. Contrast @scotgov response to @UN Special Rapporteur on Poverty, Philip Alston, who criticised UK welfare policy, & Reem Alsalem, SP on Violence Against Women & Girls @UNSRVAW who raised concerns about @scotgov policy this week. bbc.com/news/uk-scotla…
Prof Alston was welcomed to Scotland, in 2018, had well publicised meeting with FM + Government debate in @ScotParl devoted to his criticism of UK welfare cuts. His findings were rightly respected & quoted by SNP & anti poverty charities for years snp.org/its-time-to-bu…
So different when Ms Alsalem, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls @UNSRVAW raised concerns this week about ScotGov’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill. She was treated like she didn’t count or didn’t understand. Her letter outlined here holyrood.com/news/view,un-o…
It’s unfortunate that at #FMQs, @UNSRVAW was not given the courtesy of her title or name by the FM. Ms Alsalem’s careful, written intervention about legislation’s potential abuse by violent men was dismissed by the FM as “comments that were made by the person from the UN”.
It’s a bad look when one UN Special Rapporteur, who happened to be white & male, is praised & quoted for years afterwards, while another, a woman of colour, is “the person from the UN” whose concerns are not valid. Does the Scottish Gov think @UNSRVAW is somehow less important?
Reem Alsalem has worked with victims of male violence in 13 countries via UNHCR, & was a researcher for International Criminal Court. She has Masters in Human Rights from @UniofOxford A woman you’d think any lifelong feminist would take seriously. ohchr.org/en/special-pro…
Ministers should have meaningful engagement with @UNSRVAW & address her concerns by amending the bill. Good start would be to prevent (overwhelming male) sex offenders being legally recognised as women if they self-declare, something the gov has - inexplicably - refused to do
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