Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, concluded her term after a period marked by controversy surrounding her public statements. Appointed in July 2020 by the UN Human Rights Council, Mofokeng served the maximum six-year term, delivering her final report on June 17.
In her concluding remarks, Mofokeng advocated for nations to adopt "anti-racist" and "anti-colonial" health policies, stating, "The failure of states to adopt an anti-racist, anti-colonial, and dignity-based approaches through extractive capitalistic practices, pillaging of resources, coloniality, genocides, and then crushes people under the weight of indignity. Health cannot be realized without dignity."
However, Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a non-governmental organization monitoring the UN, confronted Mofokeng regarding several of her past statements. These included an article published in Teen Vogue titled "Why Sex Work Is Real Work," where Mofokeng wrote about fantasies fulfilled by sex workers and questioned, "in some ways, aren’t we all [sex workers]?" Neuer specifically asked if she stood by these remarks given the exploitation and trafficking in the sex industry.
UN Watch also released a report in May detailing what it described as Mofokeng's "anti-Israel ideology, pro-Hamas sentiment and promotion of prostitution." The report highlighted posts on social media, including one that read, "From the river to the sea Palestine will be free." In another post, Mofokeng defended Hamas, stating, "Armed struggle against colonization is not terrorism" and "That Hamas are not terrorists is fact." While the UN does not officially designate Hamas as a terrorist organization, many countries, including the United States and the European Union, do.
Responding to the confrontation, Mofokeng stated, "And in the face of fierce, personal, targeted attacks, incitement of violence against me, escalating into domestic spaces as professional harassment and intimidation, both in real life and in online spaces, I stand here today with very few answers to the grand scale of human suffering."
Mofokeng's work and statements received support from various organizations, including the Palestinian Delegation, the Arab Group, Planned Parenthood, and Amnesty International. A representative from Planned Parenthood commended her "courage in documenting genocidal acts perpetrated in Gaza." Amnesty International also lauded Mofokeng for advocating for the decriminalization of abortion and sex work, and for her recognition of "Israel’s genocide," calling on the council to build on her legacy.
The Daily Mail reached out to Mofokeng and the United Nations for comment on the matter.