A Quintet of Key Moments in the Erosion of the Rights of Women and Girls in This Past Year.
Twelve months prior, women’s rights organisations were anticipating a Trump presidency sequel. Scarcely anyone expected. The volume and speed of White House mandates coming out of the White House were seen as a deliberate tactic to induce a state of shock. To a large extent, it succeeded – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as networks struggled to compensate for the loss left by a abrupt cessation of financial support. But that was just the beginning.
The Trump administration has been the main instigator, complemented by relentless activism by deeply conservative factions seizing the opportunity to solidify transnational relationships with political allies.
This opposition to progressive rights refers to a global network of political leaders, religious institutions, civil society groups as well as affluent financiers and clans that seek to undermine gains in a variety of areas. These include pro-choice policies, equality for sexual minorities, gender identity recognition, and inclusive relationship teaching.
They pursue this agenda via influencing policymakers, funding litigation, undermining global initiatives to advance equality, spreading disinformation, and funding non-profit organisations.
We examine five moments that shaped the protection, honor, and existence of girls and women.
USAID Dismantled
In March, six weeks after a prominent humanitarian funder is halted, causing widespread distress, a top American diplomat confirms that over eighty percent of the body's projects will be terminated. Career diplomats, past leaders and relief and public health authorities criticize the move, stating that lives will be lost. Rights defenders say that the closure of the organization is greater than a budgetary issue, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms 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 war zones. As the year ends, data shows how a significant mortality toll has been exacted from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with many more millions at risk. Two other major donor nations announce their own austerity measures. A leader of an international advocacy group says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is an attempt to placate a powerful partner.
Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit
In March, several faith-based advocacy networks meet in an luxury Manhattan venue for a two-day conference held concurrently 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 applaud new Washington directives on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the women’s summit with a stark warning that “the venom of male dominance” is back, after a study indicates that opponents of gender equality are actively undermining historic agreements on core aspects of gender equality around the world.
African ‘Family Values’ Conferences
Over the warmer months, a sequence of gatherings in Africa focused on the conventional household and state autonomy triggers anxiety among equality campaigners. In the start of May, a president and first lady open a large assembly to resist what they label external influences undermining local norms. A few days later, another continental gathering on family values is held. Both events are graced by leading American and European conservative activists, including heads of influential networks. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to push back against “radical global social engineering” of international organizations. In June, a prominent church hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in an African nation, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Advocates remark that the scale of their presence has increased markedly.
US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives
As health facilities across Africa report they are running out of contraceptives, including post-rape care packages, the US announces in July plans to destroy a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a storage facility in Belgium. A global sexual health network states that their destruction will deny countless females from access to birth control, and lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. 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 international emergency medical charity calls it “heartless and dangerous”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can be distributed to those in need, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains at a standstill as host nation officials are blocking usable products to be destroyed.
Broader Restrictions on Aid
Bringing back the anti-abortion funding ban, which halts US aid to groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is commonplace under certain US administrations. It was widely expected when the policy was restored 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 extend the restrictions to include governments and multilateral organisations in addition to NGOs, and to cover diversity programmes. Further specifics about the broader enforcement are expected in early 2026. A leader in global maternal health says extending the reach will have “catastrophic impacts”. Pro-choice activists fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being discussed with African nations will become dependent on agreeing to the broadened restrictions.
