Reem Alsalem
It's a social construct Gender |
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Spectra and binaries |
“”Alsalem has unfortunately dedicated her tenure to attacking trans and gender-diverse people
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—International Planned Parenthood Federation and Women Deliver on behalf of over 230 women's organizations[1] |
Reem Alsalem (1976–) is a Jordanian-born anti-transgender activist with close ties to far-right anti-LGBTQ+ networks, who has become a key figure of the TERF movement in the 2020s. She is known for using her unpaid appointment as a special rapporteur or independent consultant on violence against women to a sub entity of the United Nations to campaign globally against transgender rights, usually invoking the authority of the UN[note 1] to give legitimacy to anti-trans junk science and propaganda.[3][4][5] She has aligned herself with the TERF movement and the broader transnational anti-gender movement,[6] supported its talking points and prominent figures and groups within the movement, including FiLiA and Women's Declaration International (WDI), and appeared at anti-trans events organized by the far-right Alliance Defending Freedom.[3][7] In 2025 she called for a ban on legal and social gender transition for children and for states to "ensure that the terms ‘women’ and ‘girls’ are only used to describe biological females."[8][9] Her Twitter account "[maintains] a steady stream of anti-trans propaganda."[3]
Alsalem's promotion of anti-trans hate in the name of the UN has been condemned by hundreds of feminist and human rights groups, including Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists.[10][1][11] Perhaps most notably, her positions were criticized by other UN human rights experts, including their highest-ranking expert, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
[12]
Activities[edit]
She has appeared at the anti-trans FiLiA conference,[13] campaigned against legal gender recognition for trans people in Scotland and claimed that it could "open the door for violent males".[12] She has campaigned against rights protections for trans people in the United States in the name of the United Nations,[14] and promoted the TERF talking point that criticism of the TERF movement constitutes "silencing and vilification of women."[15]
In 2024 Alsalem addressed a panel organized by Alliance Defending Freedom, an SPLC-designated anti-LGBTQ+ hate group, that called for "female-only" sports and the exclusion of transgender women.[7]
Alsalem has also appeared at events organized by Morality in Media (now rebranded National Center on Sexual Exploitation),[16] a Christian far-right anti-LGBTQ+ hate group known for promoting anti-gay policies in Africa.[17]
In 2024 Alsalem released a report that called for "sex screening" in sport to allegedly protect a "female-only category" and exclude those not born female,[18][19] and that said women are "entitled to single-sex spaces."[20] The United States Department of State said the report "erroneously conflate[s] transgender persons with intersex persons or others with naturally occurring variations in sex characteristics, and use[s] demeaning language to refer to transgender persons."[21]
In 2024 Alsalem also criticized the Self-Determination Act that entered into force in Germany.[22]
In 2025, Alsalem supported Donald Trump's executive order "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports," which calls transgender women "men" and attempts to ban them from women's sports, and which had been condemned by Amnesty International as "yet another cruel attack on transgender people."[23][24]
In 2025 Alsalem presented her report "Sex-based violence against women and girls", that called for a ban on legal and social gender transition for children. It also called on states to "ensure that the terms ‘women’ and ‘girls’ are only used to describe biological females and that such a meaning is recognised in law" and referred to trans women as "males who identify as women or girls." She further wrote that "there has been a concerted international push to delink the definition of men and women from their biological sex and erase the legal category of “women”". She described legal and linguistic practices that include transgender women as women as “a form of 'coercive inclusion' that relies on the expectation that women will be kind enough to sacrifice their own recognition and protection for the sake of others". She cited examples such as the adoption of "neutral language" and the "[reinterpretation] of sex-specific language to refer to gender identity rather than sex". She also rejected the framing of what she referred to as "material reality" as biological essentialism. Her report extensively cites hate groups such as Women's Declaration International, LGB Alliance and For Women Scotland in support of its arguments.[8] Alsalem was praised by Alliance Defending Freedom for resisting "gender ideology".[9] The report was criticized by researchers and LGBT advocates such as the Human Rights Campaign.[4][5][25]
Alsalem has claimed "gender-critical" activists are subjected to "smear campaigns" and branded as "Nazis", "genocidaires" or "extremists."[26][27]
Criticism[edit]
Her anti-trans views have been widely criticized by academics, feminists, human rights groups, and governments. Six large Scottish feminist NGOs including Engender, Scottish Women's Aid,
and Rape Crisis Scotland
criticized her statements regarding gender recognition in Scotland and said she had failed to speak with Scottish feminists.[28] An open letter by the Association for Women's Rights in Development,
co-signed by 550 women's rights and human rights organizations, criticized her statements and said "there is no place for anti-trans agendas in the United Nations." The letter was signed by International Planned Parenthood Federation,
the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom,
the Women's Refugee Commission,
Women Deliver,
the International Network on Violence against Women and Girls, Women in Development Europe (WIDE+), End Rape on Campus, Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition, Humanists International,
Indigenous Women Legal Awareness Group, Global Justice Center,
the National Council of German Women's Organizations,
Kvinna till Kvinna,
Stockholm Pride, ILGA World,
Transgender Europe,
the Society of Gender Professionals, and the University of Geneva.
[10][29] Legal scholar Jens Theilen argued 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."[30]
In January 2025, International Planned Parenthood Federation and Women Deliver on behalf of over 230 women's organizations released an open letter that said Alsalem "has unfortunately dedicated her tenure to attacking trans and gender-diverse people" and that her rhetoric "undermines decades of progress in advancing human rights and gender equality and risks confining cisgender women to patriarchal, protectionist policies by interpreting violence as rooted in biology (and) marginalizes vulnerable groups, including trans and gender-diverse persons, increasing the risk of violence and hatred."[1][31]
In June 2025, Amnesty International, the International Commission of Jurists, Plan International
, the Global Justice Center
, Women Deliver, and other organizations criticized Alsalem for excluding a gender analysis in efforts to address violence against women and girls. They argued this approach undermines international legal standards, risks marginalizing vulnerable groups, and ignores the root causes of gender-based violence. The organizations urged the United Nations Human Rights Council to reject rollbacks in language and principles that impact real lives and called on Alsalem to recommit to inclusive, evidence-based, and intersectional human rights frameworks. They emphasized that human rights are indivisible and that addressing gender-based violence requires recognizing the intersection of sex and gender in lived experiences, in order to "address gender-based violence against women and girls in all their diversity."[11]
An extensive report into the WDI movement, titled Rights For Me, Not For Thee: How Anti-Trans Feminists Took Their Advocacy to the United Nations, said that "WDI and their supporters saw their biggest success in late 2022: getting the ear of Reem Alsalem" and that "her official Twitter account [maintains] a steady stream of anti-trans propaganda."[3]
Her anti-trans views have also been criticized by the United Nations Independent Expert on sexual orientation and gender identity, Victor Madrigal-Borloz,
and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,
who said that "everyone — and that includes trans women — should have access to legal recognition of their gender identity based on self-identification."[12]
Many recognized feminist and human rights groups have ceased all engagement with Alsalem, citing a risk of being misrepresented in her reports,[6] which tend to cite far-right anti-trans groups like WDI in support of her views while polemicizing against and ridiculing submissions by mainstream and trans-inclusive NGOs.
Legal and feminist scholars Susana T. Fried, Alice M. Miller, Rupsa Mallik, Ivana Radačić and Esteban Restrepo-Saldarriaga wrote that Alsalem misused evidence and ignored dissenting voices in her report on "prostitution and violence"; they wrote that "there is no agreement in international human rights law about what laws best protect the rights of people who sell sex" and that "evidence is strong that criminal law making both the buying and selling of sex a crime hurts the very people who are most at risk".[32]
In 2024 anti-trans website 4W reported that she had effectively been disinvited by the Brazilian government due to her transphobia.[33]
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Joint Statement Concerning the Call for Input by the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls".
- ↑ Reem Alsalem UNSR Violence Against Women and Girls @UNSRVAW Twitter (archived from December 9, 2022).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Rights For Me, Not For Thee: How Anti-Trans Feminists Took Their Advocacy to the United Nations".
While their past attempts had failed, WDI and their supporters saw their biggest success in late 2022: getting the ear of Reem Alsalem
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Sprayregen, Molly (July 15, 2025). "United Nations appointee cites hate groups & junk science in report disparaging trans youth". LGBTQ Nation. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Adamczeski, Ryan (July 15, 2025). "U.N. draft report uses pseudoscience to claim gender dysphoria is 'socially contagious'". The Advocate. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 UN expert wants to make women’s rights about biology. Campaigners warn it's anti-gender rhetoric
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "United Nations holds panel on fighting violence against women and girls in sports". AOL.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Alsalem, Reem. "Sex-based violence against women and girls" (PDF). Retrieved 26 June 2025.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "UN reports calls on governments to prohibit 'gender transition' for children". The Catholic Herald. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "There Is No Place for Anti-Trans Agendas in the UN". Association for Women's Rights in Development.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls". Global Justice Center. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "UN chief backs Scottish government's gender recognition reforms". BBC. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ↑ "JK Rowling speaks at FiLiA feminist conference labelled 'transphobic'". The National. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
- ↑ United Nations Urges Biden Administration to Prevent Men from Competing in Women’s Athletics, Catholic Vote
- ↑ The silencing and vilification of women and girls
- ↑ NCOSE, formerly known as "Morality in Media", is a religious organisation which pushes for anti-gay policies.
- ↑ Revealed: how a US far-right group is influencing anti-gay policies in Africa, The Guardian, 30 May 2024
- ↑ "U.N. Special Rapporteur calls for re-introduction of "sex screening" to protect women's category". thesportsexaminer. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
- ↑ "Athletes not born female shouldn't be able to compete in women's sport, UN expert says". msn. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
- ↑ "UN special rapporteur's report declares women are 'entitled to single-sex spaces'". Sky. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
- ↑ "Remarks at a Third Committee Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls, Ms. Reem Alsalem". United States Department of State. Archived from the original on 2025-01-25.
- ↑ "Germany: Gender self-ID law fails to address implications for women and girls, says Special Rapporteur".
- ↑ "UN expert hails Trump ban on trans athletes in women's sports".
- ↑ "UN expert hails Trump ban on trans athletes in women's sports".
- ↑ Hansford, Amelia (2025-07-15). "UN draft report claims gender dysphoria is 'socially contagious'". The Pink News. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
- ↑ "Statement by Ms. Reem Alsalem" (PDF). Retrieved 9 October 2024.
- ↑ "UN calls out intimidation of gender-critical feminists". unherd. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
- ↑ "Scottish feminists hit back at UN gender recognition warning". The National.
- ↑ "AWID issues a statement against 'anti-trans agendas' at the UN". Carxanet.
- ↑ 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)
- ↑ "Joint Statement Concerning the Call for Input by the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls".
- ↑ Fried, Susana T. (2024). "The (mis)use of evidence in contested rights: commentary on the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls' report on "prostitution and violence"". Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters. 32 (1). doi:10.1080/26410397.2024.2425530. PMC 11613358. PMID 39513331.
- ↑ Leaked Audio Reveals Reem Alsalem 2023 Brazil Visit “Indefinitely Postponed” Due to Alleged “Transphobia”