UN Expert: Vilification of Parents Protecting Children From Gender Transition is “Disturbing” 

Reem Alsalem, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls
  • Reem Alsalem, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women & Girls, speaks up for parents who have been left “vilified, ostracised or even separated from their children” because of their concerns about child “transition”
     
  • UN Expert joined by detransitioner Chloe Cole, urging governments to empower parents to protect children from life-altering medical interventions

GENEVA (8 September 2025) – The UN Expert on Violence Against Women and Girls, Reem Alsalem, has issued a moving appeal to governments to end the vilification of parents who protect their children from “gender transition” procedures. 

Speaking via video, Alsalem warned against the “dangerous narrative” that children can make fully informed adult-level decisions about their health. “Parents and legal guardians must be part of these processes from the very beginning. Yet, in many countries, parents who do not want to endorse a ‘gender-affirmative’ approach to their children’s distress have too often been left unsupported at best, or vilified, ostracized, or even separated from their children. This is very disturbing…” she said.  

"...parents who do not want to endorse a ‘gender-affirmative’ approach to their children’s distress have too often been... vilified, ostracized, or even separated from their children."

- Reem Alsalem, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women & Girls

Addressing a panel coordinated by ADF International at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Alsalem was joined by detransitioner and campaigner Chloe Cole, who urged global leaders to strengthen the role of parents and shield children from harmful medical interventions and ideological pressures. 

“I appeal to you: we must ensure these failures are never again repeated and that childhood is truly protected as the fragile and yet beautiful part of life that it is,” said Cole, who underwent gender transition procedures as a teenager before detransitioning. 

An Appeal to Empower Parents

Cole, a detransitioner and youth activist from California, described undergoing medical interventions – including puberty blockers and testosterone starting at age 13, and a double mastectomy at 15 – before her body and brain were fully developed. 

“My mom and dad have always advocated fiercely for my safety and health, but were not empowered to fulfill their irreplaceable role as guardians of my well-being. On the contrary, their protective instincts were undermined by systems and professionals who claimed expertise but withheld the truth. They stood no chance when doctors gave them the false ultimatum of choosing between losing a daughter to suicide or having a living ‘son’,” Cole told State and UN representatives gathered at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. 

Cole’s testimony was featured as part of a UN Human Rights Council side event titled “Empowering Parents to Protect Children’s Health and Well-being,” co-hosted by the Permanent Mission of Hungary to the UN in Geneva and ADF International, with sponsorship from the Permanent Missions of The Gambia, Algeria, Argentina, Qatar, Vaunatu, and Uzbekistan; as well as Non-Governmental Organisations including Juristes pour l’Enfance, Asociacion la Familia Importa, Latter Day Saints Charities, the Center for Fundamental Rights, and The Heritage Foundation. 

Adding to the call, Giorgio Mazzoli, Director of UN Advocacy at ADF International, reminded participants that international law recognizes the family as the “fundamental group unit of society”:

“The family must not be viewed as a competitor to the State, nor parents as obstacles to children’s rights. They are the children’s first and best guardians—entrusted by nature and recognized by law.”

Mazzoli called on governments to implement policies that respect parental guidance in education, healthcare, and identity-related decisions, ensuring that children receive care in the context of loving, informed families. 

The panel also included Dr. Fanni Lajkó of Hungary’s Center for Fundamental Rights, who highlighted Hungary’s best practices for strengthening families, including reduced household costs, subsidized home loans, and generous child-raising allowances.  

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Pictured: Reem Alsalem; Chloe Cole; Giorgio Mazzoli

Collegiate and Olympic athletes, global human rights leaders call on UN to protect safety and fairness for women in sports

Save girls' sports
  • Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies, U.S. collegiate athlete Lainey Armistead, Alliance Defending Freedom CEO Kristen Waggoner and global leaders appeal to UN to keep women’s sports fair and female-only. 
  • ADF International convenes UN event alongside Paraguay, Cameroon, Morocco and Malaysia to advocate for human rights of female athletes across the globe.  
Save girls' sports

NEW YORK CITY (17 October 2024): At United Nations Headquarters in New York City yesterday, female athletes and international leaders called on the international community to preserve and protect fairness and safety in sports for women and girls.  

Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies, U.S. collegiate athlete Lainey Armistead, and ADF CEO Kristen Waggoner, UN Rapporteur Reem Alsalem, were among those that addressed government and UN officials during an event convened by ADF International as part of the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, 16 October.  

In her address, Armistead, a former West Virginia collegiate athlete represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, shared: “West Virginia has a law that ensures that only biological women can compete in women’s sports. Yet during my time as WVSU, I began to hear stories of women getting sidelined – and even getting hurt – while competing against males in women’s sports. In just the last three years, the one male athlete who has been allowed to compete against girls in West Virginia has already displaced nearly 300 girls. And that’s just one athlete.” Armistead’s lawsuit to defend West Virginia’s protections for women in sports has been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.  

Armistead continued, saying “I’m here today because we’ve all seen what happens when males are allowed to compete on women’s teams… it’s demoralizing and unfair, and just plain wrong.”  

“Females are at a physical disadvantage. This doesn’t mean that we’re worse or better, it just means that we’re biologically different,” said Davies, who competed as a swimmer at three different Olympic games and addressed the gathering virtually. “I don’t know a single person that wants to exclude anybody. However, we do want to see women have fair and safe sport. And we cannot wait until a woman is seriously injured or worse still, killed, to be able to deal with the science and the obvious and the common sense.”  

Video: Sharron Davies’ virtual remarks

The U.S. and International playing field 

Kristen Waggoner, CEO, president, and general counsel of Alliance Defending Freedom and ADF International, joined the athletes on the panel, testifying to the work being done by the organizations to protect women’s sports: “International law has long recognized equality and non-discrimination – including on the basis of sex – as a fundamental pillar of human rights. Unfortunately, many countries have fallen short of their human rights obligations toward women and girls in sports. We’ve learned the hard way that if female sports aren’t protected, it does grave harm to women and girls.”  

Waggoner continued, saying “Our hope at ADF is that the international community will turn its attention to this critical issue – ensuring women and girls can pursue sporting opportunities should they desire AND protecting female athletes from harm and indignity. Our plea to the world is to learn from the mistakes that have been made – and that are now being corrected – so that your daughters can walk into a future of fair and safe sports.” 

In addition to advocacy in the international community by ADF International, Alliance Defending Freedom is representing Lainey Armistead and other female athletes who are looking to protect women and girls from having to compete against males. The Alliance Defending Freedom is also challenging the Biden-Harris Administration’s rewrite of Title IX protections for women and girls.  

Pictured: Lainey Armistead & Kristen Waggoner

Global protections for women and girls 

Reem Alsalem, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls, joined the calls to protect female-only sports at the event, remarking that,“Women and girls in sport are experiencing new forms of discrimination based on their sex. One glaring example is the opening the female category of sports to males, further undermining their access to equal opportunities and the right to participate in safety, dignity and fairness. In fact, I do not hesitate to say that the failure to protect the female category is one of the most egregious forms of violence against women and girls as the essence of being ‘female’ is willfully pushed aside and ignored resulting in distress, pain, humiliation, frustration, and anger at the loss of dignity and sheer injustice confronted.”  

In December 2023, Alsalem publicly warned the Biden Administration that altering the definition of women in “Title IX” would result in “loss of privacy, an increased risk of physical injury, heightened exposure to sexual harassment and voyeurism, as well as a more frequent and accumulated psychological distress due to the loss of privacy and fair and equal sporting and academic opportunities.”    

Giorgio Mazzoli, Director of UN Advocacy for ADF International, said: 

“Female sports and spaces belong to women and girls. Under international law, States have an obligation to prohibit and prevent discrimination on the basis of sex. The voices of women and girls whose achievements have been directly affected by male participation in female sports categories can no longer be ignored. It is past time for States and sports bodies across the globe to follow the science and uphold safety and fairness in female sports.” 

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“Thoroughly illegitimate”: forced conversion and marriage of women and girls called out at UN event

Coinciding with the expert meeting of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance, the high-level event, hosted by Poland, Hungary, and ADF International, brought together the UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Religion or Belief and other actors to discuss challenges and solutions to the problem of forced conversions.

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