UN staffer who complained of sexual assault appeals dismissal

GENEVA: A policy adviser fired by the UN agency fighting AIDS is appealing her dismissal for misconduct, saying she was actually sacked for reporting that she had been sexually assaulted by a senior colleague, her appeal documents show.

Martina Brostrom, from Sweden, was fired for sexual and financial misconduct in December. Her appeal, which she said was sent in April to the Global Board of Appeal of the World Health Organization (WHO), which oversees UNAIDS, has not been made public but media has reviewed it.

“It becomes absurd to the point of being ironic that the one person who filed a sexual assault complaint is the one who is found guilty of sexual misconduct,” she said in an interview. The WHO declined to comment. Then UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Luiz Loures denies her accusation that he groped her in a hotel elevator in Thailand in 2015 and tried to drag her towards his room. Brostrom went public with her complaint in 2018. Brostrom told media an initial internal UN investigation did not substantiate her allegations but that the matter is still being investigated as part of a subsequent, wider case.