Five Major Key Moments in the Erosion of the Rights of Women and Girls in This Past Year.

In the previous year, groups dedicated to gender equality were steeling themselves against a second Trump term. The ensuing chaos was largely unforeseen. The flood and velocity of executive orders issued from the White House were interpreted as a deliberate tactic to paralyze through overload. In many ways it worked – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as organisations scrambled to address the shortfall left by a abrupt cessation of financial support. But this merely marked the opening act.

The US administration has been the primary force, bolstered by fervent lobbying efforts by ultra-conservative groups seizing the opportunity to build worldwide connections with sympathetic regimes.

The movement against gender equality signifies a transnational grouping of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as billionaire families and individuals that seek to undermine progress across a wide spectrum of issues. Areas targeted involve access to termination, gay and trans protections, alternative households, and factual sexual instruction.

They achieve this through pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to promote fairness, circulating falsehoods, and resourcing aligned NGOs.

We examine five moments that influenced the safety, dignity and lives of females globally.

USAID Effectively Dismantled

In early spring, six weeks after a prominent humanitarian funder is its funds are blocked, causing global disruption, a senior US official reveals that a vast majority of the body's projects will be terminated. American foreign service officers, ex-presidents and aid and medical specialists condemn the news, warning that fatalities will ensue. Rights defenders say that the dismantling of this institution is more than a funding crisis, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and access to contraception and reproductive health services. Many organisations say females will bear the brunt by waning support, especially in war zones. As the year ends, evidence indicates how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from illness, famine, inadequate obstetric services, and violence against women, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Two other major donor nations initiate similar reductions. A director of a global justice organization says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is an attempt to placate a powerful partner.

Faith-Based Activists Mobilize at UN Conference

In the same month, several faith-based advocacy networks meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a strategic summit held alongside the annual UN Women gathering. It is an forum to discuss methods on how to counter the UN's progressive policies. They are in optimistic frame of mind as they celebrate changes in American foreign policy on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the women’s summit with a stark warning that “the toxin of gendered hierarchy” is returning, after a report shows that opponents of gender equality are actively undermining longstanding consensus 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 conservative family structures and national independence raises concerns among rights advocates. In May, a president and first lady open a significant conference to combat what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A soon after, another regional summit on traditional morals is held. Both events are participated in by leading American and European conservative activists, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker calls on African NGOs to resist “radical global social engineering” of global institutions. In the following month, a prominent church hosts a family strengthening conference in an African nation, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become a forum for opposing queer and trans rights. Advocates remark that the scale of their presence has expanded considerably.

Contraceptive Destruction Order

As health facilities across Africa report they are facing shortages of birth control, including emergency kits for survivors of sexual violence, the US announces in midsummer plans to incinerate a vast stockpile of birth control held in a storage facility in Belgium. A global sexual health network states that their destruction will deny millions of women and girls from family planning options, and lead to a surge in unplanned pregnancies and dangerous terminations. The organization labels the plan an ideological decision “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 refuses all offers. The situation remains unresolved as the regional government will not allow usable products to be destroyed.

‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded

Reviving the global gag rule, which prohibits Washington's support for groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is commonplace under certain US administrations. It was widely expected when the ban was reimposed in January. The administration also rejoined an international anti-abortion agreement. 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 encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. More details on the expansion of the rule are likely forthcoming. A leader in global maternal health says widening the scope will have “devastating consequences”. Pro-choice activists fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being discussed with African nations will become dependent on agreeing to the broadened restrictions.