Five Key Moments in the Rollback of the Rights of Females in This Past Year.
This time last year, organisations advocating for women's rights were anticipating a return of Donald Trump to office. Scarcely anyone expected. The torrent and swiftness of administrative decrees emanating from the White House were interpreted as a calculated strategy to paralyze through overload. To a large extent, it succeeded – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as organisations scrambled to address the shortfall left by a sudden aid suspension. But that was just the beginning.
The American government has been the main instigator, aided by fervent lobbying efforts by religious fundamentalist networks exploiting the situation to strengthen global ties with ideological partners.
The movement against gender equality refers to a global network of government figures, churches, and advocacy collectives as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that work to dismantle forward movement on multiple topics. This encompasses reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed.
They achieve this through pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups.
We analyze five moments that affected the welfare, autonomy, and survival of girls and women.
USAID Dismantled
In early spring, a month and a half following a key American development organization is halted, causing turmoil around the world, a senior US official reveals that the lion's share of the body's projects will be terminated. Career diplomats, ex-presidents and humanitarian and health experts criticize the move, cautioning that people will die as a result. Rights defenders say that the dismantling of this institution is not just a financial shortfall, it is a savage attack on human rights and access to contraception and reproductive health services. Many organisations say the impact on girls and women will be severe by diminishing aid, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, evidence indicates 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 decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is a move to appease a political ally.
Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit
In the same month, several Christian-right organisations meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a two-day conference held concurrently with the UN's flagship gender equality meeting. It is an forum to discuss methods on how to oppose what they term a UN overreach. They are in optimistic frame of mind as they welcome new Washington directives on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the global conference with a grave caution that “the venom of male dominance” is returning, after a analysis demonstrates that opponents of gender equality are deliberately weakening established norms on key women’s rights issues around the world.
African ‘Family Values’ Conferences
Over the summer, a series of conferences in Africa focused on the conventional household and state autonomy sparks alarm among human rights defenders. In May, a national leader and spouse open a significant conference to combat what they label external influences undermining local norms. A few days later, another Pan-African conference on traditional morals is held. Both events are graced by leading American and European conservative activists, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker calls on African NGOs to stand up to “radical global social engineering” of international organizations. In the following month, a global faith group hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in an African nation, an event that health activists say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Campaigners note that the scale of their presence has expanded considerably.
Contraceptive Destruction Order
As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are facing shortages of birth control, including prophylaxis for assault victims, the US announces in midsummer plans to dispose of a vast stockpile of birth control held in a storage facility in Belgium. A leading family planning organization states that their destruction will deny countless females from family planning options, and lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The organization labels the plan an politically-motivated move “about exporting a regressive policy worldwide” 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 be distributed to those in need, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains in deadlock as host nation officials will not allow perfectly good supplies to be incinerated.
Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy
Bringing back the anti-abortion funding ban, which prohibits Washington's support for groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is commonplace under certain US administrations. It was widely expected when the rule was reinstated in the first month of the year. The administration also signed onto a conservative consensus document. But in the autumn, the US announces it intends to broaden the scope of the policy to include national governments and international bodies in addition to NGOs, and to include DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) projects. Further specifics about the expansion of the rule are expected in early 2026. A expert in child welfare says widening the scope will have “catastrophic impacts”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being negotiated with countries in Africa will become contingent upon adopting the new, wider policy.
