A Quintet of Crucial Incidents in the Erosion of the Rights of Women and Girls in the Past Year.
This time last year, groups dedicated to gender equality were bracing themselves for a Trump presidency sequel. Hardly anyone anticipated. The volume and speed of executive orders originating in the White House were seen as a premeditated approach to paralyze through overload. In many ways it worked – there was bewilderment, fury, and fatigue as groups rushed to fill the gap left by a abrupt cessation of financial support. But the situation was about to worsen.
The American government has been the central catalyst, aided by intense advocacy work by ultra-conservative groups exploiting the situation to solidify transnational relationships with ideological partners.
The movement against gender equality signifies a transnational grouping of political leaders, religious institutions, civil society groups as well as billionaire families and individuals that work to dismantle progress across a wide spectrum of issues. This covers access to termination, gay and trans protections, alternative households, and factual sexual instruction.
They accomplish their goals by lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to promote fairness, circulating falsehoods, and resourcing aligned NGOs.
We review five junctures that impacted the welfare, autonomy, and survival of females globally.
The Dismantling of USAID
In the month of March, shortly after a prominent humanitarian funder is halted, causing international chaos, a leading figure in the administration reveals that the lion's share of the institution's work will be scrapped. Career diplomats, ex-presidents and humanitarian and health experts decry the decision, stating that people will die as a result. Activists say that the closure of the organization is not just a financial shortfall, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and access to contraception and reproductive health services. Many organisations say the impact on girls and women will be severe by reduced funding, especially in regions of instability. As the year ends, reports confirm how a tremendous loss of life has already occurred from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with millions more to come. Two other major donor nations proceed with parallel slashes. A director of a global justice organization says a choice to reduce international development funding is an attempt to placate a powerful partner.
Conservative Religious Groups Lobby at UN Women Meeting
In the same month, several conservative religious groups meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a two-day conference held alongside the UN's flagship gender equality meeting. It is an forum to discuss methods on how to counter the UN's progressive policies. They are in high spirits as they welcome shifts in US policy on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the global conference with a stark warning that “the venom of male dominance” is resurgent, after a study indicates that opponents of gender equality are deliberately weakening established norms on core aspects of gender equality around the world.
African ‘Family Values’ Conferences
Over the summer, a sequence of gatherings in Africa centered on the conservative family structures and national independence triggers anxiety among human rights defenders. In May, a president and first lady open a major forum to push back on what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A soon after, another Pan-African conference on traditional morals is held. Both events are graced by leading American and European conservative activists, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker urges African NGOs to resist “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of multilateral bodies. In the following month, a major religious institution hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in West Africa, an event that health activists say has become a forum for opposing queer and trans rights. Campaigners note that the level of external participation has grown significantly.
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 a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a European depot. A leading family planning organization states that their destruction will deny countless females from contraceptive supplies, and lead to a surge in unplanned pregnancies and dangerous terminations. The organization labels the plan an dogmatic choice “about forcing a conservative worldview globally” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “callous and reckless”. Charities attempt to acquire the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains in deadlock as local authorities will not allow the destruction of viable medicines.
‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded
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 ban was reimposed in the first month of the year. The administration also rejoined an international anti-abortion agreement. 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. More details on the policy's widened application are expected in early 2026. A leader in global maternal health says widening the scope will have “devastating consequences”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that fresh American assistance deals being negotiated with countries in Africa will become conditional on accepting the new, wider policy.
