Five Major Key Moments in the Rollback of the Freedoms of Women and Girls in This Past Year.
Twelve months prior, organisations advocating for women's rights were bracing themselves for a new Trump administration. Few were prepared for. The sheer number and rapid pace of presidential directives issued from the White House were regarded as a calculated strategy to paralyze through overload. To a large extent, it succeeded – there was bewilderment, fury, and fatigue as organisations scrambled to address the shortfall left by a sudden aid suspension. But the situation was about to worsen.
The Trump administration has been the main instigator, supported by relentless activism by far-right organisations capitalizing on the climate to strengthen global ties with like-minded governments.
Often termed the anti-gender movement describes a worldwide alliance of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that work to dismantle gains in a variety of areas. This covers reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed.
They accomplish their goals by advocating to officials, financing legal challenges, sabotaging multilateral work to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups.
We look at five moments that shaped the security, respect, and well-being of girls and women.
The Demise of a Major Aid Agency
In March, shortly after a major US aid agency is frozen, causing global disruption, a top American diplomat states that over eighty percent of the agency’s programmes will be eliminated. US diplomats, ex-presidents and relief and public health authorities decry the decision, predicting that people will die as a result. Activists say that the dismantling of this institution is not just a financial shortfall, it is a savage attack on human rights and family planning and reproductive care. A multitude of agencies say the impact on girls and women will be severe by shrinking assistance, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, statistics reveal how a tremendous loss of life has already occurred from illness, famine, inadequate obstetric services, and violence against women, with millions more to come. Another pair of leading funders announce their own austerity measures. A head of a worldwide campaign network says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is a move to appease a political ally.
Conservative Religious Groups Lobby at UN Women Meeting
In March, several Christian-right organisations meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a biannual gathering held in parallel with the UN's flagship gender equality meeting. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to counter the UN's progressive policies. They are in optimistic frame of mind as they celebrate new Washington directives on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the women’s summit with a grave caution that “the poison of patriarchy” is back, after a report shows that groups opposing progressive rights are systematically eroding historic agreements on key women’s rights issues around the world.
Summits Promoting Conservative Norms
Over the summer, a series of conferences in Africa themed around the conventional household and state autonomy triggers anxiety among equality campaigners. In the start of May, a president and first lady open a large assembly 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 graced by leading Western campaigners against gender ideology, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker urges African NGOs to resist “international liberal agenda” of global institutions. In the following month, a major religious institution hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in the region, an event that health activists say has become a forum for opposing queer and trans rights. Campaigners note that the extent of foreign involvement has increased markedly.
American Plan to Burn Birth Control
As health facilities across Africa report they are depleting their stocks of family planning supplies, including prophylaxis for assault victims, the US announces in July plans to destroy a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a European depot. A leading family planning organization states that their incineration will prevent millions of women and girls from access to birth control, and lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The organization labels the plan an ideological decision “about exporting a regressive policy worldwide” and “an intentional act of reproductive coercion”. A renowned doctors' group calls it “heartless and dangerous”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US declines every proposal. The situation remains at a standstill as the regional government are blocking usable products to be destroyed.
Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy
Reviving the global gag rule, which cuts American funding for groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is standard practice for certain US administrations. It came as no surprise when the rule was reinstated in January. The administration also signed onto a conservative consensus document. But in the autumn, the US announces it intends to extend the restrictions to include national governments and international bodies in addition to NGOs, and to cover diversity programmes. Additional information regarding the policy's widened application are expected in early 2026. A leader in global maternal health says widening the scope will have “unimaginable effects”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that new US aid packages being arranged with states on the continent will become dependent on agreeing to the expanded global gag.
