United Nations under fire for selecting Wonder Woman as ambassador
The United Nations announced earlier this month that DC Comics superhero Wonder Woman would be an honorary ambassador for the empowerment of women, but the decision hasn’t gone down well with UN employees who have led a petition and silent protest.
wonder woman
The selection of Wonder Woman as an ambassador came as part of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, one of which is “to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”.
The UN believes that the character “has been known for justice, peace and equality” and said she will “help us reach new audiences with essential messages about empowerment and equality” as part of a year-long campaign.
But, during a ceremony to celebrate the appointment, UN staff members orchestrated a protest and created a “Concerned United Nations staff members” petition which outlined their concerns over the character’s “overtly sexualized image” that is not “culturally encompassing or sensitive”.
The petition read: “The bottom line appears to be that the United Nations was unable to find a real-life woman that would be able to champion the rights of ALL women on the issue of gender equality and the fight for their empowerment. The United Nations has decided that Wonder Woman is the role model that women and girls all around the world should look up to.”
It asked for the UN general secretary to reconsider the move and has had more than 1,000 signatures.