Five Major Significant Developments in the Rollback of the Rights of Women and Girls in This Past Year.
This time last year, groups dedicated to gender equality were preparing for a Trump presidency sequel. Few were prepared for. The flood and velocity of executive orders coming out of the White House were seen as a premeditated approach to paralyze through overload. The tactic proved effective – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as groups rushed to address the shortfall left by a sudden aid suspension. But this merely marked the opening act.
The Washington leadership has been the central catalyst, supported by fervent lobbying efforts by religious fundamentalist networks exploiting the situation to solidify transnational relationships with political allies.
The movement against gender equality refers to a global network of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as billionaire families and individuals that strive to weaken forward movement on multiple topics. These include reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed.
They do this by pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to foster equity, propagating misinformation, and bankrolling sympathetic charities.
We review five moments that affected the protection, honor, and existence of the female population.
USAID Dismantled
In March, shortly after a key American development organization is suspended, causing global disruption, a top American diplomat confirms that nearly all of the organization's initiatives will be axed. US diplomats, ex-presidents and humanitarian and health experts condemn the news, cautioning that lives will be lost. Human rights advocates say that the closure of the organization is more than a funding crisis, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and birth control and maternal healthcare. A multitude of agencies say the impact on girls and women will be severe by reduced funding, especially in war zones. As the year ends, statistics reveal how a significant mortality toll has been exacted from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with many more millions at risk. Additional key contributing countries initiate similar reductions. A director of a global justice organization says a choice to reduce international development funding is a move to appease a political ally.
Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit
In the same month, several conservative religious groups meet in an luxury Manhattan venue for a strategic summit held concurrently with the international conference on women's rights. It is an forum to discuss methods on how to counter the UN's progressive policies. They are in buoyant mood as they applaud new Washington directives on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the world's top diplomat opens the gender equality forum with a stark warning that “the venom of male dominance” is back, after a analysis demonstrates that anti-rights actors are actively undermining established norms on key women’s rights issues around the world.
Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa
Over the warmer months, a series of conferences in Africa focused on the traditional family and national sovereignty triggers anxiety among rights advocates. In the start of May, a president and first lady open a large assembly to push back on what they label external influences undermining local norms. A few days later, another Pan-African conference on family values is held. Both events are attended by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to stand up to “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of global institutions. In June, a prominent church hosts a family strengthening conference in an African nation, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Activists observe that the level of external participation has expanded considerably.
US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives
As health facilities across Africa report they are running out of contraceptives, including emergency kits for survivors of sexual violence, the US announces in midsummer plans to dispose of a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a storage facility in Belgium. A leading family planning organization states that their elimination will deprive countless females from access to birth control, and lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The organization labels the plan an dogmatic choice “about imposing an anti-rights agenda on the entire world” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A international emergency medical charity calls it “heartless and dangerous”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US declines every proposal. The situation remains unresolved as local authorities are blocking usable products to be destroyed.
Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy
Reinstating the Mexico City Policy, which halts US aid to groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is standard practice for certain US administrations. It was anticipated 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 broaden the scope of the policy to include national governments and international bodies in addition to NGOs, and to encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. Additional information regarding the expansion of the rule are expected in early 2026. A director of a major health partnership says extending the reach will have “devastating consequences”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that fresh American assistance deals being negotiated with countries in Africa will become contingent upon adopting the broadened restrictions.
