🔗 Share this article Five Landmark Occurrences in the Erosion of the Rights of Women and Girls in the Past Year. In the previous year, feminist advocacy groups were bracing themselves for a second Trump term. Few were prepared for. The volume and speed of administrative decrees issued from the White House were viewed as a deliberate tactic to overwhelm and create panic. This strategy had its intended impact – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as networks struggled to compensate for the loss left by a abrupt cessation of financial support. But this was only the precursor. The US administration has been the central catalyst, bolstered by intense advocacy work by ultra-conservative groups exploiting the situation to strengthen global ties with sympathetic regimes. The movement against gender equality refers to a global network of political leaders, religious institutions, civil society groups as well as affluent financiers and clans that work to dismantle forward movement on multiple topics. This covers reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed. They do this by advocating to officials, financing legal challenges, sabotaging multilateral work to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups. We look at five episodes that affected the safety, dignity and lives of women and girls. USAID Dismantled In early spring, a month and a half following a prominent humanitarian funder is its funds are blocked, causing widespread distress, a senior US official announces that the lion's share of the agency’s programmes will be eliminated. US diplomats, ex-presidents and humanitarian and health experts decry the decision, predicting that lives will be lost. Human rights advocates say that the dismantling of this institution is greater than a budgetary issue, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and birth control and maternal healthcare. Numerous groups say the impact on girls and women will be severe by shrinking assistance, especially in regions of instability. As the year ends, statistics reveal how a significant mortality toll has been exacted from illness, famine, inadequate obstetric services, and violence against women, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Additional key contributing countries follow with their own cuts. A director of a global justice organization 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 Christian-right organisations meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a strategic summit held alongside the UN's flagship gender equality meeting. It is an forum to discuss methods on how to defeat the UN’s “radical agenda”. They are in optimistic frame of mind as they welcome shifts in US policy on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the women’s summit with a stark warning that “the venom of male dominance” is returning, after a report shows that opponents of gender equality are systematically eroding established norms on key women’s rights issues around the world. Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa Over the summer, a cluster of meetings in Africa focused on the conventional household and state autonomy sparks alarm among rights advocates. In early May, a president and first lady open a significant conference to combat what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A few days later, another regional summit on family values is held. Both events are graced by leading American and European conservative activists, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker calls on African NGOs to stand up to “radical global social engineering” of international organizations. In the following month, a prominent church hosts a family strengthening conference in an African nation, an event that health activists say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Campaigners note that the extent of foreign involvement has increased markedly. Contraceptive Destruction Order As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are facing shortages of birth control, including prophylaxis for assault victims, the US announces in July plans to incinerate a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a storage facility in Belgium. A major reproductive health federation states that their elimination will deprive millions of women and girls from family planning options, and lead to a public health crisis of unwanted pregnancies. 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 renowned doctors' group calls it “cruel and irresponsible”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can be distributed to those in need, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains in deadlock as host nation officials are blocking the destruction of viable medicines. Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy Reinstating the Mexico City Policy, 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 widely expected when the ban was reimposed in the first month of the year. The administration also rejoined an international anti-abortion agreement. But in October, the US announces it intends to extend the restrictions to include sovereign states and UN agencies in addition to NGOs, and to encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. Further specifics about the broader enforcement are expected in early 2026. A leader in global maternal health says broadening the policy will have “catastrophic impacts”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being discussed with African nations will become dependent on agreeing to the broadened restrictions.
In the previous year, feminist advocacy groups were bracing themselves for a second Trump term. Few were prepared for. The volume and speed of administrative decrees issued from the White House were viewed as a deliberate tactic to overwhelm and create panic. This strategy had its intended impact – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as networks struggled to compensate for the loss left by a abrupt cessation of financial support. But this was only the precursor. The US administration has been the central catalyst, bolstered by intense advocacy work by ultra-conservative groups exploiting the situation to strengthen global ties with sympathetic regimes. The movement against gender equality refers to a global network of political leaders, religious institutions, civil society groups as well as affluent financiers and clans that work to dismantle forward movement on multiple topics. This covers reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed. They do this by advocating to officials, financing legal challenges, sabotaging multilateral work to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups. We look at five episodes that affected the safety, dignity and lives of women and girls. USAID Dismantled In early spring, a month and a half following a prominent humanitarian funder is its funds are blocked, causing widespread distress, a senior US official announces that the lion's share of the agency’s programmes will be eliminated. US diplomats, ex-presidents and humanitarian and health experts decry the decision, predicting that lives will be lost. Human rights advocates say that the dismantling of this institution is greater than a budgetary issue, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and birth control and maternal healthcare. Numerous groups say the impact on girls and women will be severe by shrinking assistance, especially in regions of instability. As the year ends, statistics reveal how a significant mortality toll has been exacted from illness, famine, inadequate obstetric services, and violence against women, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Additional key contributing countries follow with their own cuts. A director of a global justice organization 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 Christian-right organisations meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a strategic summit held alongside the UN's flagship gender equality meeting. It is an forum to discuss methods on how to defeat the UN’s “radical agenda”. They are in optimistic frame of mind as they welcome shifts in US policy on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the women’s summit with a stark warning that “the venom of male dominance” is returning, after a report shows that opponents of gender equality are systematically eroding established norms on key women’s rights issues around the world. Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa Over the summer, a cluster of meetings in Africa focused on the conventional household and state autonomy sparks alarm among rights advocates. In early May, a president and first lady open a significant conference to combat what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A few days later, another regional summit on family values is held. Both events are graced by leading American and European conservative activists, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker calls on African NGOs to stand up to “radical global social engineering” of international organizations. In the following month, a prominent church hosts a family strengthening conference in an African nation, an event that health activists say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Campaigners note that the extent of foreign involvement has increased markedly. Contraceptive Destruction Order As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are facing shortages of birth control, including prophylaxis for assault victims, the US announces in July plans to incinerate a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a storage facility in Belgium. A major reproductive health federation states that their elimination will deprive millions of women and girls from family planning options, and lead to a public health crisis of unwanted pregnancies. 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 renowned doctors' group calls it “cruel and irresponsible”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can be distributed to those in need, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains in deadlock as host nation officials are blocking the destruction of viable medicines. Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy Reinstating the Mexico City Policy, 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 widely expected when the ban was reimposed in the first month of the year. The administration also rejoined an international anti-abortion agreement. But in October, the US announces it intends to extend the restrictions to include sovereign states and UN agencies in addition to NGOs, and to encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. Further specifics about the broader enforcement are expected in early 2026. A leader in global maternal health says broadening the policy will have “catastrophic impacts”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being discussed with African nations will become dependent on agreeing to the broadened restrictions.