A Quintet of Key Moments in the Erosion of the Freedoms of Women and Girls in the Year 2025.
This time last year, feminist advocacy groups were bracing themselves for a second Trump term. Hardly anyone anticipated. The torrent and swiftness of White House mandates emanating from the White House were seen as a premeditated approach to induce a state of shock. In many ways it worked – there was bewilderment, fury, and fatigue as networks struggled to fill the gap left by a sudden aid suspension. But that was just the beginning.
The Trump administration has been the main instigator, bolstered by intense advocacy work by far-right organisations capitalizing on the climate to build worldwide connections with like-minded governments.
This opposition to progressive rights refers to a global network of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as wealthy philanthropists and dynasties that seek to undermine gains in a variety of areas. This covers reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed.
They accomplish their goals by pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to advance equality, spreading disinformation, and funding non-profit organisations.
We examine five instances that influenced the security, respect, and well-being of females globally.
The Dismantling of USAID
In March, six weeks after a prominent humanitarian funder is frozen, causing global disruption, a leading figure in the administration announces that nearly all of the agency’s programmes will be eliminated. US diplomats, ex-presidents and humanitarian and health experts denounce the action, predicting that fatalities will ensue. Activists say that the demise of the agency is more than a funding crisis, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and family planning and reproductive care. Many organisations say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by waning support, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, data shows how a tremendous loss of life has already occurred from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with many more millions at risk. Another pair of leading funders announce their own austerity measures. A director of a global justice organization says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is a gesture of alignment with another government's agenda.
Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit
In the same month, several Christian-right organisations meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a two-day conference held concurrently with the annual UN Women gathering. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to oppose what they term a UN overreach. They are in buoyant mood as they applaud new Washington directives on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the women’s summit with a somber alert that “the venom of male dominance” is resurgent, after a study indicates that anti-rights actors are deliberately weakening historic agreements on key women’s rights issues around the world.
African ‘Family Values’ Conferences
Over the summer, a sequence of gatherings in Africa centered on the conventional household and state autonomy raises concerns among human rights defenders. In early May, a president and first lady open a large assembly to combat what they label external influences undermining local norms. A soon after, another continental gathering on family values is held. Both events are participated in by leading American and European conservative activists, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker calls on African NGOs to resist “radical global social engineering” of international organizations. In June, a global faith group hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in West Africa, an event that health activists say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Campaigners note that the extent of foreign involvement has expanded considerably.
US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives
As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are running out of contraceptives, including post-rape care packages, the US announces in July plans to dispose of a vast stockpile of birth control held in a warehouse in Europe. A major reproductive health federation states that their incineration will prevent millions of women and girls from access to birth control, and lead to a surge in unplanned pregnancies and dangerous terminations. The organization labels the plan an ideological decision “about exporting a regressive policy worldwide” and “a deliberate form of reproductive oppression”. A international emergency medical charity calls it “callous and reckless”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains unresolved as local authorities refuse to permit usable products to be destroyed.
‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded
Reviving the global gag rule, 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 rule was reinstated in January. The administration also reaffirmed membership in a pro-life declaration. But in October, the US announces it intends to expand the global gag rule to include national governments and international bodies in addition to NGOs, and to encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. Further specifics about the broader enforcement are anticipated next year. A leader in global maternal health says broadening the policy will have “devastating consequences”. Pro-choice activists fear that fresh American assistance deals being discussed with African nations will become dependent on agreeing to the expanded global gag.
