Five Pivotal Events in the Attack on the Freedoms of Women and Girls in the Past Year.
Twelve months prior, feminist advocacy groups were anticipating a second Trump term. Hardly anyone anticipated. The torrent and swiftness of executive orders issued from the White House were viewed as a intentional maneuver to induce a state of shock. To a large extent, it succeeded – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as organisations scrambled to fill the gap left by a sudden aid suspension. But the situation was about to worsen.
The American government has been the primary force, bolstered by intense advocacy work by far-right organisations seizing the opportunity to build worldwide connections with ideological partners.
This opposition to progressive rights describes a worldwide alliance of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that seek to undermine gains in a variety of areas. This covers pro-choice policies, equality for sexual minorities, gender identity recognition, and inclusive relationship teaching.
They achieve this through lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups.
We analyze five moments that shaped the safety, dignity and lives of females globally.
The Demise of a Major Aid Agency
In the month of March, a month and a half following a prominent humanitarian funder is suspended, causing global disruption, a top American diplomat states that over eighty percent of the institution's work will be scrapped. US diplomats, past leaders and relief and public health authorities denounce the action, stating that people will die as a result. Activists say that the dismantling of this institution is greater than a budgetary issue, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and family planning and reproductive care. Numerous groups say the impact on girls and women will be severe by waning support, especially in war zones. As the year ends, statistics reveal how a tremendous loss of life has already occurred from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with millions more to come. Two other major donor nations announce their own austerity measures. 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 March, several faith-based advocacy networks meet in an luxury Manhattan venue for a biannual gathering held concurrently with the international conference on women's rights. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to counter the UN's progressive policies. They are in high spirits as they welcome shifts in US policy on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the world's top diplomat opens the gender equality forum with a somber alert that “the venom of male dominance” is resurgent, after a report shows that anti-rights actors are actively undermining established norms on core aspects of gender equality around the world.
African ‘Family Values’ Conferences
Over the warmer months, a cluster of meetings in Africa focused on the traditional family and national sovereignty raises concerns among human rights defenders. In May, a president and first lady open a large assembly to push back on what they label criminal foreign forces eroding traditional family values. A soon after, another regional summit on family values is held. Both events are participated in by leading Western campaigners against gender ideology, including heads of influential networks. One speaker calls on African NGOs to resist “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of international organizations. In June, a prominent church hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in an African nation, an event that health activists say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Activists observe that the extent of foreign involvement has grown significantly.
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 midsummer plans to destroy a vast stockpile of birth control 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 “a calculated move to control fertility”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “heartless and dangerous”. Charities attempt to acquire the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains unresolved as the regional government will not allow perfectly good supplies to be incinerated.
‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded
Bringing back the anti-abortion funding ban, which halts US aid to groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is standard practice for certain US administrations. It came as no surprise when the ban was reimposed in January. The administration also signed onto a conservative consensus document. 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 include DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) projects. Further specifics about the policy's widened application are likely forthcoming. A director of a major health partnership says widening the scope will have “unimaginable effects”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being arranged with states on the continent will become conditional on accepting the new, wider policy.
