My experience with the Senior U.N. official fired and now referred to criminal authorities for alleged sexual misconduct.
Ravi Karkara sought to induct me into his inner circle, promising me fame and media publicity for my literary career. Fortunately for me, I never took him up on it.
Ravi Karkara, a United Nations senior adviser accused of sexual misconduct against younger male subordinates, was fired from his role at the U.N. Entity for Gender Equality Monday, after nearly 15 months of investigation.
“The investigative and disciplinary processes into allegations involving a U.N. Women staff member have concluded that sexual misconduct occurred,” Phumzile Mlambo-Ngucka, executive director of U.N. Women, said in a statement Monday. “As a result, I have dismissed the staff member; this is the strongest disciplinary measure available… the staff member is prohibited from employment at the U.N.”
I had my own dealings with Ravi Karkara when he visited London in 2017 to conduct an appearance at the BBC Asian Network, other BBC programming and some distinguished keynote events. He was on a whirlwind tour and he enjoyed having hangers on; the younger and more male they were, the better.
While I didn’t necessarily fit into Mr Karkara’s desired age frame, I looked (and look) much younger than my years. Mr Karkara set up a special WhatsApp message group where ‘we could speak clearly and freely without outside encumbrances.’ I wasn’t sure what that meant exactly but his method of communication often entailed short, stinging sentences that were proclamations, orders, social engineering attempts-orders from on high to those who sought to be guided by his influence and reach:
“Meet me in private after I appear on BBC Asian Network”
“If you want your book to be more famous, I can make that happen; you just have to trust in me”
“This is my private number, you can call me day or night, anytime”
I didn’t feel as though Mr Karkara was weaving a web to trap me as such because I implicitly trusted him because of his rank and that is key. For many similar young males felt that an individual who carried such rank was beyond reproach; that surely the U.N. had such stringent standards that a man of such questionable character would not be able to go about his (well numerated) business in such a dastardly and nefarious manner.
It’s highly disturbing to me that I could have caught up in Mr Karkara’s fiendish plan to satisfy his nebulous impulses. I never took him up on the ‘private meeting’ he wanted after the BBC taping or to continue dialogues into the night. I missed his calls and never returned them and am glad. Clearly some were not so fortunate.
My initial introduction came by way of internationally renowned human rights activist Mandy Sanghera; and both of us were horrified at what transpired once Mr Karkara’s activities came to the fore.
“It has been a very long wait for justice,” Mandy has said “For me it was always about supporting victims & standing with the whistleblowers. We always have a choice to do the right thing because it is the right thing to do. After months of being gaslighted , harassed , having my character defamed by Ravi friends, his colleagues and supporters who were always trying to discredit my professional and personal reputations. They even tried to stop organisations working with me and intimidated my family & friends I couldn’t have done this without the support of Kerry M. Gibson we both have been under stress and emotional distress”
“I would like to thank everyone who has stood with Kerry, Aashish and I during this testing time as we fought to give the victims justice for what they had suffered at the hands of a man whom they had trusted and should have felt safe around. For me it was always about doing the right thing . I am of Indian descent. It was never about race. I have been accused of being a racist because I wouldn’t stand with wrongdoing. We now need to support the victims to get justice & the psychological help they need as well as compensation. This is a landmark case a real game changer it will go into changing policies & even law . We can’t allow people to continue abusing their power or hide behind diplomatic immunity.”
Since this news broke, Karkara has not responded to Newsweek who broke the news back in December 2017. He has been on administrative leave from the U.N. gender equality group for more than a year.
Newsweek first reported that the investigation into Karkara began in June 2017 when Steve Lee, a Canadian policy activist, and Gibson separately filed complaints against Karkara and were interviewed by U.N. investigators. Lee said Karkara harassed him for more than a year with sexual innuendo and harassment, culminating with an incident in a Montreal hotel room in which Karkara grabbed his crotch without consent. Gibson said the behavior constituted nonsexual workplace misconduct.
Other alleged victims confirmed similar behavior by Karkara. A member of the British Parliament, Lloyd-Russell Moyle, told Newsweek in August that Karkara sent him photos of his genitalia over the dating app Grindr and harassed him nonsexually in the workplace. Another former colleague, Junaid Mandoori, said Karkara fixated on him for months in chats and text messages, asking him out and requesting nude photos and masturbation videos. Mandoori said he left the international aid community because of Karkara’s harassment.
