IMA Statement: The DSK Sex Case is an Assault on Women and Migrants

The International Migrants’ Alliance (IMA) denounces former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s sexual assault on female migrant worker Nafissatou Diallo, as well as the case’s subsequent handling by US prosecutors and the Western media, as not only an attack on her person but on women and migrants as well.

It is reprehensible enough that such a powerful personage as Strauss-Kahn would take advantage of his privileged social position to force sex on Diallo, a young widow and single-parent from West Africa working as a maid at the New York Hotel Sofitel. Ironically championed as a “non-violent” womanizer by his wife and a mistress, Strauss-Kahn was merely being true to himself and the institution he represented by being an incorrigible chauvinist, closet racist and velvet-tongued exploiter of the underprivileged.

But what is even worse is the way the case is being handled by US prosecutors and Western big media in general. Shamelessly cranking up their latent socio-cultural prejudices in defending Strauss-Kahn and in turn denigrating Diallo, these defenders of the imperialist status quo are now hell-bent on turning the victim into the perpetrator, propagating the “scheming mulcter” line of male chauvinists that has proved to be the bane of countless sex victims seeking justice. By buying into this line being spread by Strauss-Kahn’s hired PR firm, the US prosecutors and big media outfits are not only trying to undermine Diallo’s case, but are also fueling deep-seated prejudices and stereotypes against women and migrants, especially those of different color.

The IMA calls on its broad network of migrant organizations and institutions to raise their voices against Strauss-Kahn and his powerful defenders. We demand that he face full trial and be made to answer for his crime, and that US prosecutors handling the case exercise due impartiality. We also call on big media organizations to stop besmirching Diallo and all other women and migrants everywhere who are faced daily with threats on their economic and physical security abroad. We demand justice for Diallo and all migrant victims of sexual violence!

For Reference:

Eni Lestari, chairperson

Contact No. 96081475