A Quintet of Significant Developments in the Rollback of the Freedoms of Women and Girls in the Year 2025.
A year ago, feminist advocacy groups were bracing themselves for a new Trump administration. Few were prepared for. The flood and velocity of White House mandates originating in the White House were viewed as a deliberate tactic to overwhelm and create panic. In many ways it worked – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as agencies hastened to fill the gap left by a major funding freeze. But this was only the precursor.
The American government has been the primary force, complemented by relentless activism by far-right organisations capitalizing on the climate to solidify transnational relationships with ideological partners.
The movement against gender equality describes a worldwide alliance of government figures, churches, and advocacy collectives as well as affluent financiers and clans that seek to undermine forward movement on multiple topics. This covers abortion, LGBTQ rights, trans rights, non-traditional family structures and comprehensive sexuality education.
They accomplish their goals by pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups.
We review five episodes that impacted the protection, honor, and existence of women and girls.
The Demise of a Major Aid Agency
In the month of March, six weeks after a major US aid agency is frozen, causing turmoil around the world, a senior US official states that over eighty percent of the organization's initiatives will be axed. US diplomats, past leaders and aid and medical specialists criticize the move, cautioning that fatalities will ensue. Activists say that the closure of the organization is not just a financial shortfall, it is a savage attack on human rights and access to contraception and reproductive health services. Many organisations say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by diminishing aid, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, data shows how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with many more millions at risk. Another pair of leading funders follow with their own cuts. A leader of an international advocacy group 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 March, several Christian-right organisations meet in an luxury Manhattan venue for a biannual gathering held concurrently with the UN's flagship gender equality meeting. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to defeat the UN’s “radical agenda”. They are in high spirits as they celebrate shifts in US policy on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the gender equality forum with a somber alert that “the venom of male dominance” is resurgent, after a study indicates that anti-rights actors are actively undermining established norms on key women’s rights issues around the world.
African ‘Family Values’ Conferences
Over the summer, a cluster of meetings in Africa themed around the traditional family and national sovereignty triggers anxiety among human rights defenders. In May, a head of state and partner open a significant conference to resist what they label external influences undermining local norms. A shortly thereafter, another continental gathering on conservative ethics is held. Both events are participated in by leading Western campaigners against gender ideology, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker urges African NGOs to resist “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of multilateral bodies. In the following month, a prominent church hosts a family strengthening conference in the region, an event that health activists say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Activists observe that the extent of foreign involvement has grown significantly.
Contraceptive Destruction Order
As health facilities across Africa report they are running out of contraceptives, including emergency kits for survivors of sexual violence, the US announces in midsummer plans to dispose of a vast stockpile of birth control held in a European depot. A major reproductive health federation states that their incineration will prevent millions of women and girls from contraceptive supplies, and lead to a surge in unplanned pregnancies and dangerous terminations. The organization labels the plan an ideological decision “about forcing a conservative worldview globally” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “callous and reckless”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains in deadlock as the regional government will not allow usable products to be destroyed.
Broader Restrictions on Aid
Reinstating the Mexico City Policy, which prohibits Washington's support for groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is commonplace under certain US administrations. It came as no surprise when the rule was reinstated in the first month of the year. The administration also signed onto a conservative consensus document. But in October, the US announces it intends to broaden the scope of the policy to include governments and multilateral organisations in addition to NGOs, and to encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. More details on the policy's widened application are expected in early 2026. A leader in global maternal health says widening the scope will have “catastrophic impacts”. Pro-choice activists fear that fresh American assistance deals being discussed with African nations will become contingent upon adopting the new, wider policy.
