UNAIDS Retaliates Against Survivor of Sexual Assault

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 13, 2019: Martina Brostrom was fired today from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) on the basis of charges that she categorically denies, in what she described as a blatant act of retaliation.

"I challenged the status quo," Brostrom said. "I spoke up about what happened to me and what was happening in UNAIDS. As a consequence, I have suffered tremendously."

Ms. Brostrom had reported that the second-in-command at UNAIDS, Luiz Loures, sexually assaulted her during a conference and attempted to drag her from an elevator to his hotel room. Her allegations shone a public spotlight on rampant sexual offenses and sexual harassment perpetrated with impunity against women within the UN programme.

Ms. Brostrom's brave stand led to the creation of an Independent Expert Panel, which found “overwhelming” evidence of a “broken organisational culture” and called for an immediate change in UNAIDS’ leadership. In the fallout over the Panel’s findings of a toxic work environment and “cult of personality” at UNAIDS, then-Executive Director Michel Sidibé announced that he would resign early from his post, and he then secured a position as health minister in his native Mali.

UNAIDS' initial response to Brostrom's allegations was to deny her claims. A deeply flawed and biased internal investigation claimed to find insufficient evidence of the assault. Sidibé publicly denounced staff who report sexual abuse as immoral and unethical, and he extended Luiz Loures’ contract to allow him to retire with the highest possible donor-funded pension payout. As more victims went public with eerily similar accounts of being assaulted by Loures in hotel lifts, UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced in April 2018 that on the basis of new evidence, he was re-opening the Loures investigation. Nothing more has been heard in the 20 months since. But during that time, UNAIDS went on the offensive, scouring files and phone records to open an investigation into Ms. Brostrom and recast the victim as the offender.

“The UN is comfortably stuck in the 1950s, untouched by feminism or the #MeToo movement, rigorously adhering to its ancient double standards: men are protected and women are hounded,” said Paula Donovan, Co-Director of AIDS-Free World's Code Blue Campaign, which has played an instrumental role in advocating for Ms. Brostrom and other victims of UN abuse. “UNAIDS’ damage-control efforts cost US $1.3 million, according to an internal audit. The message to other women is clear: defend your rights and we will spare no expense to blame you, shame you, and make you disappear.”

Ms. Brostrom, who held out hope of justice upon the arrival of Winnie Byanyima, a new executive director with a background in women’s rights, is distraught by this latest blow.

“I have realized that reporting assault comes at a tremendous personal cost. It takes a toll on your health, your sanity, your social status, your friendships, your relationships, your family life, and your finances,” she said. “I have learned that organizations can accept victims as long as they are silent but not women who speak up about abuse in the system. I have learned that courage is something that comes and goes. I learned that sexual assault changes you. I learned that a toxic workplace cannot be fixed by one person, and that leaders say the one thing they think people want to hear. I learned that had it not been for the support of civil society and my loved ones, I would have not survived this.”

“I realized that when a train is speeding, you cannot get off even when you want to. But I will not give up or stay silent, and that is my contribution to the UN.”

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Peter Duffy
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(Photo / Mark Henley)