Five Major Significant Developments in the Assault on the Freedoms of Women and Girls in the Past Year.
This time last year, groups dedicated to gender equality were steeling themselves against a new Trump administration. The ensuing chaos was largely unforeseen. The volume and speed of administrative decrees originating in the White House were interpreted as a intentional maneuver to overwhelm and create panic. In many ways it worked – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as networks struggled to compensate for the loss left by a freeze on international development funds. But the situation was about to worsen.
The Washington leadership has been the main instigator, complemented by intense advocacy work by ultra-conservative groups seizing the opportunity to build worldwide connections with ideological partners.
The anti-rights movement refers to a global network of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that aim to roll back progress across a wide spectrum of issues. This encompasses abortion, LGBTQ rights, trans rights, non-traditional family structures and comprehensive sexuality education.
They do this by pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to advance equality, spreading disinformation, and funding non-profit organisations.
We look at five moments that impacted the safety, dignity and lives of girls and women.
USAID Dismantled
In early spring, six weeks after a major US aid agency is frozen, causing global disruption, a leading figure in the administration states that nearly all of the institution's work will be scrapped. Career diplomats, former presidents and aid and medical specialists criticize the move, stating that people will die as a result. Activists say that the closure of the organization is more than a funding crisis, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and birth control and maternal healthcare. Many organisations say females will bear the brunt by diminishing aid, especially in regions of instability. As the year ends, statistics reveal how a tremendous loss of life has already occurred from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Another pair of leading funders proceed with parallel slashes. A director of a global justice organization says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is an attempt to placate a powerful partner.
Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit
In the same month, several conservative religious groups meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a strategic summit held alongside the international conference on women's rights. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to defeat the UN’s “radical agenda”. They are in buoyant mood as they applaud shifts in US policy on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the world's top diplomat opens the global conference with a stark warning that “the poison of patriarchy” is returning, after a analysis demonstrates that groups opposing progressive rights are systematically eroding established norms on key women’s rights issues around the world.
Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa
Over the summer, a sequence of gatherings in Africa themed around the conventional household and state autonomy raises concerns among human rights defenders. In early May, a head of state and partner open a major forum to resist what they label criminal foreign forces eroding traditional family values. A soon after, another Pan-African conference on family values is held. Both events are attended by leading Western campaigners against gender ideology, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker calls on African NGOs to resist “international liberal agenda” of international organizations. In June, a global faith group hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in an African nation, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Campaigners note that the extent of foreign involvement has grown significantly.
American Plan to Burn Birth Control
As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are running out of contraceptives, including emergency kits for survivors of sexual violence, the US announces in midsummer plans to incinerate a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a European depot. A global sexual health network states that their destruction will deny millions of women and girls from family planning options, and lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The organization labels the plan an dogmatic choice “about forcing a conservative worldview globally” and “a deliberate form of reproductive oppression”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “heartless and dangerous”. Charities attempt to acquire the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains at a standstill as host nation officials are blocking perfectly good supplies to be incinerated.
‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded
Bringing back the anti-abortion funding ban, which cuts American funding for groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is typical of certain US administrations. It came as no surprise when the rule was reinstated in January. The administration also reaffirmed membership in a pro-life declaration. But in the autumn, the US announces it intends to expand the global gag rule to include governments and multilateral organisations in addition to NGOs, and to include DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) projects. Further specifics about the policy's widened application are expected in early 2026. A leader in global maternal health says extending the reach will have “unimaginable effects”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that new US aid packages being discussed with African nations will become contingent upon adopting the expanded global gag.