🔗 Share this article Five Critical Key Moments in the Challenge to the Freedoms of Women and Girls in the Past Year. This time last year, groups dedicated to gender equality were preparing for a second Trump term. Scarcely anyone expected. The torrent and swiftness of presidential directives coming out of the White House were interpreted as a premeditated approach to overwhelm and create panic. This strategy had its intended impact – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as groups rushed to address the shortfall left by a freeze on international development funds. But the situation was about to worsen. The Trump administration has been the key driver, supported by fervent lobbying efforts by far-right organisations capitalizing on the climate to strengthen global ties with sympathetic regimes. The anti-rights movement describes a worldwide alliance of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that seek to undermine gains in a variety of areas. These include pro-choice policies, equality for sexual minorities, gender identity recognition, and inclusive relationship teaching. They pursue this agenda via advocating to officials, financing legal challenges, sabotaging multilateral work to foster equity, propagating misinformation, and bankrolling sympathetic charities. We analyze five instances that affected the protection, honor, and existence of women and girls. The Demise of a Major Aid Agency In early spring, a month and a half following a major US aid agency is halted, causing widespread distress, a leading figure in the administration states that over eighty percent of the organization's initiatives will be axed. US diplomats, former presidents and relief and public health authorities condemn the news, stating that lives will be lost. Rights defenders say that the demise of the agency is not just a financial shortfall, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and access to contraception and reproductive health services. Numerous groups say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by waning support, especially in regions of instability. As the year ends, data shows how a significant mortality toll has been exacted from illness, famine, inadequate obstetric services, and violence against women, with many more millions at risk. Another pair of leading funders announce their own austerity measures. A leader of an international advocacy group says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is a move to appease a political ally. Faith-Based Activists Mobilize at UN Conference In March, several Christian-right organisations meet in an luxury Manhattan venue for a strategic summit held in parallel with the UN's flagship gender equality meeting. It is an chance to exchange strategies on how to oppose what they term a UN overreach. They are in optimistic frame of mind as they celebrate new Washington directives on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the global conference with a somber alert that “the poison of patriarchy” is resurgent, after a report shows that groups opposing progressive rights are actively undermining longstanding consensus on key women’s rights issues around the world. African ‘Family Values’ Conferences Over the warmer months, a sequence of gatherings in Africa themed around the conventional household and state autonomy raises concerns among rights advocates. In early May, a president and first lady open a significant conference to combat what they label external influences undermining local norms. A shortly thereafter, another Pan-African conference on traditional morals is held. Both events are graced by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including heads of influential networks. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to stand up to “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of international organizations. In the following month, a prominent church hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in West Africa, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become a forum for opposing queer and trans rights. Advocates remark that the extent of foreign involvement has increased markedly. US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives As medical centers in numerous African countries report they are facing shortages of birth control, including emergency kits for survivors of sexual violence, the US announces in midsummer plans to destroy millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a warehouse in Europe. A major reproductive health federation states that their elimination will deprive countless females 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 deliberate form of reproductive oppression”. 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 declines every proposal. The situation remains in deadlock as host nation officials refuse to permit the destruction of viable medicines. Broader Restrictions on Aid Reinstating the Mexico City Policy, which cuts American funding for groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is commonplace under certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the ban was reimposed in the first month of the year. The administration also reaffirmed membership in a pro-life declaration. But in October, the US announces it intends to expand the global gag rule to include sovereign states and UN agencies in addition to NGOs, and to encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. Further specifics about the policy's widened application 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 arranged with states on the continent will become conditional on accepting the new, wider policy.
This time last year, groups dedicated to gender equality were preparing for a second Trump term. Scarcely anyone expected. The torrent and swiftness of presidential directives coming out of the White House were interpreted as a premeditated approach to overwhelm and create panic. This strategy had its intended impact – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as groups rushed to address the shortfall left by a freeze on international development funds. But the situation was about to worsen. The Trump administration has been the key driver, supported by fervent lobbying efforts by far-right organisations capitalizing on the climate to strengthen global ties with sympathetic regimes. The anti-rights movement describes a worldwide alliance of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that seek to undermine gains in a variety of areas. These include pro-choice policies, equality for sexual minorities, gender identity recognition, and inclusive relationship teaching. They pursue this agenda via advocating to officials, financing legal challenges, sabotaging multilateral work to foster equity, propagating misinformation, and bankrolling sympathetic charities. We analyze five instances that affected the protection, honor, and existence of women and girls. The Demise of a Major Aid Agency In early spring, a month and a half following a major US aid agency is halted, causing widespread distress, a leading figure in the administration states that over eighty percent of the organization's initiatives will be axed. US diplomats, former presidents and relief and public health authorities condemn the news, stating that lives will be lost. Rights defenders say that the demise of the agency is not just a financial shortfall, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and access to contraception and reproductive health services. Numerous groups say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by waning support, especially in regions of instability. As the year ends, data shows how a significant mortality toll has been exacted from illness, famine, inadequate obstetric services, and violence against women, with many more millions at risk. Another pair of leading funders announce their own austerity measures. A leader of an international advocacy group says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is a move to appease a political ally. Faith-Based Activists Mobilize at UN Conference In March, several Christian-right organisations meet in an luxury Manhattan venue for a strategic summit held in parallel with the UN's flagship gender equality meeting. It is an chance to exchange strategies on how to oppose what they term a UN overreach. They are in optimistic frame of mind as they celebrate new Washington directives on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the global conference with a somber alert that “the poison of patriarchy” is resurgent, after a report shows that groups opposing progressive rights are actively undermining longstanding consensus on key women’s rights issues around the world. African ‘Family Values’ Conferences Over the warmer months, a sequence of gatherings in Africa themed around the conventional household and state autonomy raises concerns among rights advocates. In early May, a president and first lady open a significant conference to combat what they label external influences undermining local norms. A shortly thereafter, another Pan-African conference on traditional morals is held. Both events are graced by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including heads of influential networks. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to stand up to “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of international organizations. In the following month, a prominent church hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in West Africa, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become a forum for opposing queer and trans rights. Advocates remark that the extent of foreign involvement has increased markedly. US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives As medical centers in numerous African countries report they are facing shortages of birth control, including emergency kits for survivors of sexual violence, the US announces in midsummer plans to destroy millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a warehouse in Europe. A major reproductive health federation states that their elimination will deprive countless females 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 deliberate form of reproductive oppression”. 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 declines every proposal. The situation remains in deadlock as host nation officials refuse to permit the destruction of viable medicines. Broader Restrictions on Aid Reinstating the Mexico City Policy, which cuts American funding for groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is commonplace under certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the ban was reimposed in the first month of the year. The administration also reaffirmed membership in a pro-life declaration. But in October, the US announces it intends to expand the global gag rule to include sovereign states and UN agencies in addition to NGOs, and to encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. Further specifics about the policy's widened application 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 arranged with states on the continent will become conditional on accepting the new, wider policy.