Five Critical Significant Developments in the Attack on the Rights of Women and Girls in the Year 2025.
A year ago, groups dedicated to gender equality were bracing themselves for a new Trump administration. The ensuing chaos was largely unforeseen. The torrent and swiftness of executive orders issued from the White House were seen as a premeditated approach to overwhelm and create panic. To a large extent, it succeeded – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as groups rushed to plug the hole left by a abrupt cessation of financial support. But this merely marked the opening act.
The American government has been the central catalyst, bolstered by intense advocacy work by deeply conservative factions capitalizing on the climate to forge international alliances with political allies.
The movement against gender equality refers to a global network of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as billionaire families and individuals that work to dismantle advances on numerous fronts. This encompasses reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed.
They pursue this agenda via influencing policymakers, funding litigation, undermining global initiatives to foster equity, propagating misinformation, and bankrolling sympathetic charities.
We review five junctures that shaped the security, respect, and well-being of females globally.
The Demise of a Major Aid Agency
In March, a month and a half following a key American development organization is halted, causing international chaos, a leading figure in the administration confirms that nearly all of the agency’s programmes will be eliminated. US diplomats, ex-presidents and humanitarian and health experts condemn the news, predicting that mortality will increase. Human rights advocates say that the closure of the organization is greater than a budgetary issue, it is a savage attack on human rights and birth control and maternal healthcare. Many organisations say the impact on girls and women will be severe by waning support, especially in regions of instability. As the year ends, reports confirm how a significant mortality toll has been exacted from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Another pair of leading funders announce their own austerity measures. A leader of an international advocacy group says a choice to reduce international development funding is a gesture of alignment with another government's agenda.
Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit
In March, several Christian-right organisations meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a two-day conference held concurrently with the international conference on women's rights. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to oppose what they term a UN overreach. They are in optimistic frame of mind as they celebrate new Washington directives on gender, diversity and abortion. Meanwhile, the world's top diplomat opens the women’s summit with a grave caution that “the toxin of gendered hierarchy” is back, after a analysis demonstrates that groups opposing progressive rights are systematically eroding historic agreements on core aspects of gender equality around the world.
African ‘Family Values’ Conferences
Over the summer, a cluster of meetings in Africa focused on the conservative family structures and national independence raises concerns among rights advocates. In early May, a president and first lady open a significant conference to combat what they label external influences undermining local norms. A soon after, another regional summit on conservative ethics is held. Both events are attended by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to push back against “radical global social engineering” of international organizations. In the following month, a major religious institution hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in West Africa, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become a forum for opposing queer and trans rights. Campaigners note that the extent of foreign involvement has expanded considerably.
Contraceptive Destruction Order
As health facilities across Africa report they are facing shortages of birth control, including post-rape care packages, the US announces in midsummer plans to incinerate millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a storage facility in Belgium. A leading family planning organization states that their elimination will deprive a huge female population from family planning options, and lead to a surge in unplanned pregnancies and dangerous terminations. The organization labels the plan an dogmatic choice “about exporting a regressive policy worldwide” and “an intentional act of reproductive coercion”. A international emergency medical charity calls it “callous and reckless”. Charities attempt to acquire the contraceptives so they can be distributed to those in need, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains in deadlock as local authorities will not allow the destruction of viable medicines.
Broader Restrictions on Aid
Reviving the global gag rule, which halts US aid to groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is typical of certain US administrations. It was widely expected when the policy was restored 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 sovereign states and UN agencies in addition to NGOs, and to cover diversity programmes. More details on the expansion of the rule are likely forthcoming. A expert in child welfare says widening the scope will have “unimaginable effects”. Pro-choice activists fear that new US aid packages being negotiated with countries in Africa will become conditional on accepting the broadened restrictions.
