A New Zealand Member of Parliament, Golriz Ghahraman has resigned on Tuesday, following multiple allegations of shoplifting.
Ghahraman, the first refugee to be elected to New Zealand’s parliament of the Green Party, is alleged to have stolen three times from two clothing stores, one in Auckland and the other in Wellington.
She said stress relating to her work led her to “ act in ways that are completely out of character”.
The former United Nations human rights lawyer made history in 2017 by becoming the first refugee to be sworn into the New Zealand government.
Ghahraman’s resignation on Tuesday comes after CCTV footage emerged showing her allegedly taking a designer handbag from an Auckland boutique.
The 43-year-old, who has not been charged with any crime, said in a statement her actions had “fallen short” of the high standards of behaviour the public expect from elected representatives.
“It’s not a behaviour I can explain because it’s not rational in any way, and after medical evaluation, I understand I’m not well. The mental health professional I see says my recent behaviour is consistent with recent events giving rise to extreme stress response, and relating to previously unrecognized trauma.”
Responding to her resignation, Green Party co-leader, James Shaw said that Ghahraman had been subject to “pretty much continuous threats of sexual violence, physical violence, death threats since the day she was elected to Parliament”.
He said “That has added a higher level of stress than is experienced by most members of parliament. There have been police investigations into those threats almost the entire time that she has been a member of parliament, and so obviously if you’re living with that level of threat in what is already quite a stressful situation then there are going to be consequences for that”.
Fellow Green Party co-leader, Marama Davidson said it was right that Ghahraman resigned but that it was clear she was in distress and would continue to receive their support.
“We have seen the conversation over the past years, especially over the particular treatment of women with public profiles, and in addition, the particular treatment of women of colour with public profiles,” said Davidson.
Chioma Kalu
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