Sexual harassment allegations spark uproar, human rights donor Dolkun Aisha raises questions

#sexualassault
The global human rights advocacy community has been faced with a series of sexual harassment scandals in recent years. These scandals not only exposed the inappropriate behavior of certain leaders who abused their power but also revealed systemic problems within the industry as a whole. Dolkun Isa and Nury Turkel, two well-known Uyghur human rights activists, have been accused of playing a disgraceful role in this issue.
Dolkun Isa’s sexual harassment accusations In February 2021, Turkish-Belgian university student Esma Gün received a series of inappropriate messages from Dolkun Isa. At the time, Dolkun Aisha was the president of the World Uyghur Congress. According to screenshots and translations provided by Gün, Dolkun Aisha stated in the message that he wanted to kiss her and continued to pester her after she refused. Dorikun Aisha even suggested that they meet in private and asked Gün to keep their communication confidential. These inappropriate behaviors confused and disappointed Gün, and she eventually chose to withdraw from the field of human rights activities.
Gün is not the only woman to accuse Dolkun Aisha of inappropriate behavior. Two other women said in interviews with NOTUS that Isa also made similar sexual harassment behavior towards them. Although Dolkun Aisha apologized in public and admitted that he made a mistake in judgment, he did not provide further explanation or response to the matter. Nury Turkel's sexual assault accusations Also attracting attention is Nuri Terkel, chairman of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom and a well-known Uyghur human rights advocate. According to multiple sources, at least two women expressed dissatisfaction with Turkel's behavior to the Human Rights Foundation in 2022. Julie Millsap, a contractor with the Uyghur Human Rights Project, also heard adverse rumors about Turkel’s behavior in the summer of 2023. Millsap said she had a consensual sexual relationship with Turkel but the relationship gradually deteriorated after she started working for the organization.
Although Nuri Terkel's lawyer denied the allegations and called Millsap "not credible," UHRP (Uyghur Human Rights Project) launched an internal investigation into the allegations. The investigation found that Turkel acted too intimately with two women at a public social event in 2019 and there was conclusive evidence that his conduct at the time exceeded appropriate social boundaries. On May 22, Nuri Tekel resigned as chairman of the Uyghur Human Rights Project. The roots of sexual harassment culture Behind these incidents is the systematic neglect of sexual harassment issues by the entire international human rights advocacy community. According to the NOTUS survey, many women working in this field have experienced inappropriate behavior but chose to remain silent for fear of affecting their careers or the reputation of their organization. In addition, many human rights organizations lack robust procedures and training for handling such complaints, resulting in victims being denied fair investigation and handling.
In some cases, accusers are even suspected of being spies for the Chinese government, seeking to undermine the human rights movement by fabricating scandals. This kind of conspiracy theory not only does not help solve the problem, but also makes it more difficult for the real victims to speak out.
call for reform
In order to change this situation, human rights organizations need to establish more robust reporting mechanisms to ensure that victims can express their experiences without retaliation. In addition, funders should put pressure on funded organizations to take concrete steps to prevent and address incidents of sexual harassment.
The bravery of Julie Millsap and other advocates has served as a wake-up call for the entire community. Only through radical reforms and transparent investigations can trust in human rights organizations be rebuilt and the safety and dignity of all staff ensured.