Five Pivotal Events in the Rollback of the Freedoms of Women and Girls in the Past Year.

Twelve months prior, organisations advocating for women's rights were bracing themselves for a return of Donald Trump to office. The ensuing chaos was largely unforeseen. The flood and velocity of administrative decrees emanating from the White House were interpreted as a calculated strategy to cause confusion and fear. In many ways it worked – there was bewilderment, fury, and fatigue as agencies hastened to address the shortfall left by a major funding freeze. But the situation was about to worsen.

The American government has been the key driver, complemented by intense advocacy work by far-right organisations exploiting the situation to strengthen global ties with ideological partners.

This opposition to progressive rights denotes an international coalition of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as affluent financiers and clans that seek to undermine forward movement on multiple topics. Areas targeted involve abortion, LGBTQ rights, trans rights, non-traditional family structures and comprehensive sexuality education.

They do this by influencing policymakers, funding litigation, undermining global initiatives to advance equality, spreading disinformation, and funding non-profit organisations.

We analyze five episodes that shaped the safety, dignity and lives of girls and women.

USAID Dismantled

In the month of March, a month and a half following a prominent humanitarian funder is halted, causing global disruption, a top American diplomat reveals that the lion's share of the institution's work will be scrapped. Career diplomats, past leaders and humanitarian and health experts denounce the action, cautioning that lives will be lost. Human rights advocates say that the closure of the organization is more than a funding crisis, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and family planning and reproductive care. A multitude of agencies say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by shrinking assistance, especially in war zones. As the year ends, evidence indicates how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Another pair of leading funders proceed with parallel slashes. A head of a worldwide campaign network says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is a gesture of alignment with another government's agenda.

Conservative Religious Groups Lobby at UN Women Meeting

In March, several conservative religious groups meet in an luxury Manhattan venue for a two-day conference held concurrently with the annual UN Women gathering. It is an forum to discuss methods on how to defeat the UN’s “radical agenda”. They are in buoyant mood as they welcome new Washington directives on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the women’s summit with a somber alert that “the poison of patriarchy” is back, after a report shows that opponents of gender equality are deliberately weakening established norms on fundamental freedoms for women around the world.

Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa

Over the warmer months, a series of conferences in Africa themed around the traditional family and national sovereignty sparks alarm among rights advocates. In May, a president and first lady open a major forum to push back on what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A few days later, another Pan-African conference on family values is held. Both events are participated in by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to stand up to “radical global social engineering” of multilateral bodies. In June, a global faith group hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in the region, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Activists observe that the extent of foreign involvement has grown significantly.

Contraceptive Destruction Order

As medical centers in numerous African countries report they are running out of contraceptives, including post-rape care packages, the US announces in midsummer plans to destroy millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a warehouse in Europe. A leading family planning organization states that their elimination will deprive 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 politically-motivated move “about imposing an anti-rights agenda on the entire world” and “a deliberate form of reproductive oppression”. A international emergency medical charity calls it “heartless and dangerous”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains at a standstill as host nation officials will not allow perfectly good supplies to be incinerated.

Broader Restrictions on Aid

Reviving the global gag rule, which cuts American funding for groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is standard practice for certain US administrations. It came as no surprise when the policy was restored in the first month of the year. The administration also signed onto a conservative consensus document. But in the autumn, 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. Additional information regarding the policy's widened application are anticipated next year. A expert in child welfare says broadening the policy will have “devastating consequences”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that fresh American assistance deals being arranged with states on the continent will become dependent on agreeing to the new, wider policy.