🔗 Share this article Five Defining Pivotal Events in the Challenge to the Rights of Women and Girls in the Past Year. Twelve months prior, women’s rights organisations were bracing themselves for a second Trump term. The ensuing chaos was largely unforeseen. The sheer number and rapid pace of executive orders originating in the White House were viewed as a premeditated approach to induce a state of shock. To a large extent, it succeeded – there was bewilderment, fury, and fatigue as networks struggled to plug the hole left by a freeze on international development funds. But this merely marked the opening act. The US administration has been the primary force, complemented by relentless activism by far-right organisations capitalizing on the climate to solidify transnational relationships with sympathetic regimes. The anti-rights movement denotes an international coalition of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that strive to weaken advances on numerous fronts. Areas targeted involve access to termination, gay and trans protections, alternative households, and factual sexual instruction. They pursue this agenda via influencing policymakers, funding litigation, undermining global initiatives to foster equity, propagating misinformation, and bankrolling sympathetic charities. We review five junctures that shaped the security, respect, and well-being of girls and women. The Demise of a Major Aid Agency In March, a month and a half following a key American development organization is halted, causing global disruption, a senior US official confirms that a vast majority of the organization's initiatives will be axed. American foreign service officers, ex-presidents and relief and public health authorities criticize the move, stating that fatalities will ensue. Human rights advocates say that the demise of the agency is not just a financial shortfall, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and access to contraception and reproductive health services. A multitude of agencies say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by shrinking assistance, especially in regions of instability. As the year ends, evidence indicates how a significant mortality toll has been exacted from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Two other major donor nations follow with their own cuts. A head of a worldwide campaign network says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is a move to appease a political ally. Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit In the same month, several conservative religious groups meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a strategic summit held in parallel with the international conference on women's rights. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to defeat the UN’s “radical agenda”. They are in buoyant mood as they applaud changes in American foreign policy on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the world's top diplomat opens the women’s summit with a grave caution that “the toxin of gendered hierarchy” is back, after a analysis demonstrates that opponents of gender equality are actively undermining historic agreements on fundamental freedoms for women around the world. Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa Over the warmer months, a cluster of meetings in Africa centered on the traditional family and national sovereignty triggers anxiety among human rights defenders. In early May, a head of state and partner open a large assembly to push back on 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 presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to resist “international liberal agenda” of global institutions. In June, a global faith group hosts a family strengthening conference in West Africa, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become a forum for opposing queer and trans rights. Campaigners note that the level of external participation has increased markedly. American Plan to Burn Birth Control 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 millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a warehouse in Europe. A global sexual health network states that their destruction will deny millions of women and girls from access to birth control, and lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The organization labels the plan an politically-motivated move “about imposing an anti-rights agenda on the entire world” and “an intentional act of reproductive coercion”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “heartless and dangerous”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains in deadlock as the regional government will not allow perfectly good supplies to be incinerated. Broader Restrictions on Aid Reviving the global gag rule, which prohibits Washington's support for groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is standard practice for certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the policy was restored in January. The administration also signed onto a conservative consensus document. But in the autumn, 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 broader enforcement are anticipated next year. A director of a major health partnership says widening the scope will have “catastrophic impacts”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being discussed with African nations will become conditional on accepting the new, wider policy.
Twelve months prior, women’s rights organisations were bracing themselves for a second Trump term. The ensuing chaos was largely unforeseen. The sheer number and rapid pace of executive orders originating in the White House were viewed as a premeditated approach to induce a state of shock. To a large extent, it succeeded – there was bewilderment, fury, and fatigue as networks struggled to plug the hole left by a freeze on international development funds. But this merely marked the opening act. The US administration has been the primary force, complemented by relentless activism by far-right organisations capitalizing on the climate to solidify transnational relationships with sympathetic regimes. The anti-rights movement denotes an international coalition of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that strive to weaken advances on numerous fronts. Areas targeted involve access to termination, gay and trans protections, alternative households, and factual sexual instruction. They pursue this agenda via influencing policymakers, funding litigation, undermining global initiatives to foster equity, propagating misinformation, and bankrolling sympathetic charities. We review five junctures that shaped the security, respect, and well-being of girls and women. The Demise of a Major Aid Agency In March, a month and a half following a key American development organization is halted, causing global disruption, a senior US official confirms that a vast majority of the organization's initiatives will be axed. American foreign service officers, ex-presidents and relief and public health authorities criticize the move, stating that fatalities will ensue. Human rights advocates say that the demise of the agency is not just a financial shortfall, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and access to contraception and reproductive health services. A multitude of agencies say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by shrinking assistance, especially in regions of instability. As the year ends, evidence indicates how a significant mortality toll has been exacted from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Two other major donor nations follow with their own cuts. A head of a worldwide campaign network says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is a move to appease a political ally. Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit In the same month, several conservative religious groups meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a strategic summit held in parallel with the international conference on women's rights. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to defeat the UN’s “radical agenda”. They are in buoyant mood as they applaud changes in American foreign policy on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the world's top diplomat opens the women’s summit with a grave caution that “the toxin of gendered hierarchy” is back, after a analysis demonstrates that opponents of gender equality are actively undermining historic agreements on fundamental freedoms for women around the world. Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa Over the warmer months, a cluster of meetings in Africa centered on the traditional family and national sovereignty triggers anxiety among human rights defenders. In early May, a head of state and partner open a large assembly to push back on 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 presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to resist “international liberal agenda” of global institutions. In June, a global faith group hosts a family strengthening conference in West Africa, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become a forum for opposing queer and trans rights. Campaigners note that the level of external participation has increased markedly. American Plan to Burn Birth Control 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 millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a warehouse in Europe. A global sexual health network states that their destruction will deny millions of women and girls from access to birth control, and lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The organization labels the plan an politically-motivated move “about imposing an anti-rights agenda on the entire world” and “an intentional act of reproductive coercion”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “heartless and dangerous”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains in deadlock as the regional government will not allow perfectly good supplies to be incinerated. Broader Restrictions on Aid Reviving the global gag rule, which prohibits Washington's support for groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is standard practice for certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the policy was restored in January. The administration also signed onto a conservative consensus document. But in the autumn, 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 broader enforcement are anticipated next year. A director of a major health partnership says widening the scope will have “catastrophic impacts”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being discussed with African nations will become conditional on accepting the new, wider policy.