It has come to our attention that the facilitator of Agreed Conclusions for the 63rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), Koki Muli Grignon from Kenya, has been targeted by extremist groups and individuals that called for their supporters to flood her personal cell phone with anti-abortion / anti-gender text messages. Ms. Muli said that she received hundreds of harassing messages today as she presided over negotiations on the outcome of this UN annual meeting on the rights of women and girls.
We, as civil society and women’s human rights advocates, unequivocally condemn this effort to intimidate Ms. Muli. Women human rights defenders, including those who work within the UN system, are harassed in all regions. Tonight, it became clear that even officials who seek to protect and advance rights of women are at risk as they perform their official duties. No one should be subjected to this kind of bullying. We are particularly concerned about the content of the messages Ms. Muli received. We believe that she was targeted in order to stifle efforts to advance women’s sexual and reproductive rights during the CSW. This is occurring in the context of other tactics meant to intimidate meeting participants, including the presence of an “anti abortion” bus that has been circling the UN area.
ACTION
We would like to send messages of support to Her Excellency Ms Muli, by 10am on Thursday 21 March, and are asking organizations to URGENTLY sign on to the statement here: https://forms.gle/yA8yze11t2SowqGM9
We will also deliver an update by the end of the day.
SIGN ON STATEMENT
Women’s rights and feminist activists thank Her Excellency Koki Muli for her efforts to lead the Commission on the Status of Women to a successful outcome. Around the world, every day, women human rights defenders are targeted for their defense of human and women’s rights. We stand together with Her Excellency and all the other women human rights defenders who face intimidation for the work they do to advance gender-related rights.
