A trans woman has sparked concern among women’s rights groups after she was picked by the UN as its “UK champion”.
Organisations including Fair Play for Women, Sex Matters, Transgender Trend and the Women’s Rights Network shared their “dismay and disappointment” over model, Munroe Bergdorf, being selected.
At least 17 groups have signed a letter to the charity UN Women UK expressing their concerns.
Bergdorf, who is also a broadcaster, was given the role of the first UN Women UK Champion in November.
According to UN Women UK, it supports the “empowerment of women equality globally within civil society, government and the corporate sector”.
However, the group of charities wrote: “We wish to register our dismay and disappointment at the appointment of … Munroe Bergdorf as a UN Women UK champion. Munroe Bergdorf is unsuitable in every regard.
“Munroe Bergdorf’s well-publicised activism is not pro-women. This person has objected to women making references to our female bodies.”
The group shared their worries over issues such as female genital mutilation (FGM) and challenged how Bergdorf could champion women without speaking about female bodies.
After being appointed, the 36-year-old said: “I’m incredibly proud to step into my new role as a UN Women UK Champion.
“Working with the UN has been a personal ambition and dream of mine ever since I started working in the activism space over a decade ago. It’s a responsibility that I don’t take lightly.
“I will use this role to further advocate for the progress, safety, inclusion and empowerment of all women and girls, of all communities and identities.
“I will continue to draw attention to the systemic and social impact of misogyny, transphobia and gender-based inequality within the UK — in order to help provide data and insight that contributes to forming tangible methods of tracking and countering it.”
She has previously held positions including being an advocate for UN Women UK in 2019.
Bergdorf faced backlash in 2017 after making comments regarding race.
She was dropped by L’Oréal over a post responding to the violence of white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which she said: “Honestly, I don’t have energy to talk about the racial violence of white people any more. Yes, all white people.
“Because most of y’all don’t even realise or refuse to acknowledge that your existence, privilege and success as a race is built on the backs, blood and death of people of colour. Your entire existence is drenched in racism.”
