🔗 Share this article Five Critical 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 second Trump term. Few were prepared for. The flood and velocity of White House mandates coming out of the White House were interpreted as a premeditated approach to cause confusion and fear. In many ways it worked – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as groups rushed to fill the gap left by a freeze on international development funds. But this was only the precursor. The Washington leadership has been the primary force, aided by relentless activism by ultra-conservative groups seizing the opportunity to build worldwide connections with political allies. The anti-rights movement denotes an international coalition 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 covers abortion, LGBTQ rights, trans rights, non-traditional family structures and comprehensive sexuality education. They do this by influencing policymakers, funding litigation, undermining global initiatives to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups. We examine five moments that shaped the protection, honor, and existence of females globally. USAID Effectively Dismantled In March, shortly after a prominent humanitarian funder is suspended, causing international chaos, a leading figure in the administration states that nearly all of the body's projects will be terminated. US diplomats, past leaders and aid and medical specialists condemn the news, warning that people will die as a result. Human rights advocates say that the closure of the organization is more than a funding crisis, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and family planning and reproductive care. Many organisations say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by waning support, especially in regions of instability. As the year ends, data shows how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Another pair of leading funders follow with their own cuts. A leader of an international advocacy group says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is a move to appease a political ally. Faith-Based Activists Mobilize at UN Conference In March, several faith-based advocacy networks meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a strategic summit held alongside the UN's flagship gender equality meeting. 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 changes in American foreign policy on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the global conference with a stark warning that “the venom of male dominance” is resurgent, after a report shows that groups opposing progressive rights are systematically eroding established norms on fundamental freedoms for women around the world. African ‘Family Values’ Conferences Over the summer, a cluster of meetings 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 significant conference to combat what they label criminal foreign forces eroding traditional family values. A few days later, another regional summit on traditional morals is held. Both events are participated in by leading Western campaigners against gender ideology, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker calls on African NGOs to push back against “radical global social engineering” of multilateral bodies. In the following month, a global faith group hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in the region, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become a forum for opposing queer and trans rights. Campaigners note that the scale of their presence has grown significantly. Contraceptive Destruction Order As health facilities across Africa report they are running out of contraceptives, including post-rape care packages, the US announces in midsummer plans to dispose of millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a storage facility in Belgium. A global sexual health network states that their incineration will prevent millions of women and girls from contraceptive supplies, 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 “an intentional act of reproductive coercion”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “cruel and irresponsible”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains in deadlock as host nation officials refuse to permit the destruction of viable medicines. Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy Reviving the global gag rule, which halts US aid to groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is typical of certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the policy was restored in January. The administration also reaffirmed membership in a pro-life declaration. But in October, 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. Additional information regarding the policy's widened application are likely forthcoming. A director of a major health partnership says widening the scope will have “catastrophic impacts”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that new US aid packages being negotiated with countries in Africa will become conditional on accepting the broadened restrictions.
Twelve months prior, organisations advocating for women's rights were bracing themselves for a second Trump term. Few were prepared for. The flood and velocity of White House mandates coming out of the White House were interpreted as a premeditated approach to cause confusion and fear. In many ways it worked – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as groups rushed to fill the gap left by a freeze on international development funds. But this was only the precursor. The Washington leadership has been the primary force, aided by relentless activism by ultra-conservative groups seizing the opportunity to build worldwide connections with political allies. The anti-rights movement denotes an international coalition 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 covers abortion, LGBTQ rights, trans rights, non-traditional family structures and comprehensive sexuality education. They do this by influencing policymakers, funding litigation, undermining global initiatives to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups. We examine five moments that shaped the protection, honor, and existence of females globally. USAID Effectively Dismantled In March, shortly after a prominent humanitarian funder is suspended, causing international chaos, a leading figure in the administration states that nearly all of the body's projects will be terminated. US diplomats, past leaders and aid and medical specialists condemn the news, warning that people will die as a result. Human rights advocates say that the closure of the organization is more than a funding crisis, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and family planning and reproductive care. Many organisations say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by waning support, especially in regions of instability. As the year ends, data shows how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Another pair of leading funders follow with their own cuts. A leader of an international advocacy group says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is a move to appease a political ally. Faith-Based Activists Mobilize at UN Conference In March, several faith-based advocacy networks meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a strategic summit held alongside the UN's flagship gender equality meeting. 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 changes in American foreign policy on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the global conference with a stark warning that “the venom of male dominance” is resurgent, after a report shows that groups opposing progressive rights are systematically eroding established norms on fundamental freedoms for women around the world. African ‘Family Values’ Conferences Over the summer, a cluster of meetings 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 significant conference to combat what they label criminal foreign forces eroding traditional family values. A few days later, another regional summit on traditional morals is held. Both events are participated in by leading Western campaigners against gender ideology, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker calls on African NGOs to push back against “radical global social engineering” of multilateral bodies. In the following month, a global faith group hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in the region, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become a forum for opposing queer and trans rights. Campaigners note that the scale of their presence has grown significantly. Contraceptive Destruction Order As health facilities across Africa report they are running out of contraceptives, including post-rape care packages, the US announces in midsummer plans to dispose of millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a storage facility in Belgium. A global sexual health network states that their incineration will prevent millions of women and girls from contraceptive supplies, 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 “an intentional act of reproductive coercion”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “cruel and irresponsible”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains in deadlock as host nation officials refuse to permit the destruction of viable medicines. Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy Reviving the global gag rule, which halts US aid to groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is typical of certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the policy was restored in January. The administration also reaffirmed membership in a pro-life declaration. But in October, 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. Additional information regarding the policy's widened application are likely forthcoming. A director of a major health partnership says widening the scope will have “catastrophic impacts”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that new US aid packages being negotiated with countries in Africa will become conditional on accepting the broadened restrictions.