Five Defining Key Moments in the Erosion of the Rights of Women and Girls in This Past Year.
Twelve months prior, feminist advocacy groups were preparing for a Trump presidency sequel. Hardly anyone anticipated. The torrent and swiftness of presidential directives emanating from the White House were viewed as a premeditated approach to cause confusion and fear. In many ways it worked – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as organisations scrambled to address the shortfall left by a sudden aid suspension. But the situation was about to worsen.
The Trump administration has been the primary force, bolstered by intense advocacy work by deeply conservative factions capitalizing on the climate to solidify transnational relationships with ideological partners.
Often termed the anti-gender movement signifies a transnational grouping of government figures, churches, and advocacy collectives as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that work to dismantle forward movement on multiple topics. This covers access to termination, gay and trans protections, alternative households, and factual sexual instruction.
They do this by pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to foster equity, propagating misinformation, and bankrolling sympathetic charities.
We look at five instances that shaped the welfare, autonomy, and survival of women and girls.
USAID Dismantled
In March, a month and a half following a key American development organization is suspended, causing global disruption, a senior US official confirms that over eighty percent of the body's projects will be terminated. Career diplomats, former presidents and relief and public health authorities denounce the action, cautioning that fatalities will ensue. Rights defenders say that the demise of the agency is greater than a budgetary issue, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and family planning and reproductive care. Numerous groups say the impact on girls and women will be severe by shrinking assistance, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, reports confirm how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from illness, famine, inadequate obstetric services, and violence against women, with millions more to come. Two other major donor nations follow with their own cuts. A leader of an international advocacy group says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is an attempt to placate a powerful partner.
Faith-Based Activists Mobilize at UN Conference
In the same month, several conservative religious groups meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a strategic summit held in parallel 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 celebrate new Washington directives on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the world's top diplomat opens the women’s summit with a grave caution that “the venom of male dominance” is back, after a analysis demonstrates that groups opposing progressive rights are actively undermining longstanding consensus on fundamental freedoms for women around the world.
Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa
Over the warmer months, a cluster of meetings in Africa themed around the conservative family structures and national independence raises concerns among rights advocates. In the start of May, a head of state and partner open a major forum to combat what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A few days later, another continental gathering on traditional morals is held. Both events are attended by leading American and European conservative activists, including heads of influential networks. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to stand up to “international liberal agenda” of multilateral bodies. In June, a global faith group hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in West Africa, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Activists observe that the extent of foreign involvement has increased markedly.
US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives
As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are depleting their stocks of family planning supplies, including prophylaxis for assault victims, the US announces in midsummer plans to dispose of a vast stockpile of birth control held in a European depot. A global sexual health network states that their elimination will deprive countless females 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 be distributed to those in need, but the US declines every proposal. The situation remains in deadlock as the regional government refuse to permit perfectly good supplies to be incinerated.
Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy
Bringing back the anti-abortion funding ban, which halts US aid to groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is standard practice for certain US administrations. It came as no surprise when the ban was reimposed in the first month of the year. The administration also reaffirmed membership in a pro-life declaration. 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 include DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) projects. Additional information regarding the policy's widened application are expected in early 2026. A leader in global maternal health says extending the reach will have “unimaginable effects”. Pro-choice activists fear that new US aid packages being arranged with states on the continent will become contingent upon adopting the expanded global gag.
