A Quintet of Pivotal Events in the Challenge to the Rights of Women and Girls in the Past Year.
In the previous year, women’s rights organisations were bracing themselves for a second Trump term. Few were prepared for. The sheer number and rapid pace of administrative decrees emanating from the White House were seen as a calculated strategy to paralyze through overload. This strategy had its intended impact – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as groups rushed to address the shortfall left by a sudden aid suspension. But this merely marked the opening act.
The Trump administration has been the main instigator, complemented by relentless activism by ultra-conservative groups exploiting the situation to build worldwide connections with political allies.
The movement against gender equality refers to a global network of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as billionaire families and individuals that seek to undermine progress across a wide spectrum of issues. These include pro-choice policies, equality for sexual minorities, gender identity recognition, and inclusive relationship teaching.
They pursue this agenda via lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to promote fairness, circulating falsehoods, and resourcing aligned NGOs.
We look at five junctures that impacted the safety, dignity and lives of the female population.
USAID Effectively Dismantled
In the month of March, a month and a half following a key American development organization is suspended, causing turmoil around the world, a top American diplomat announces that nearly all of the institution's work will be scrapped. US diplomats, past leaders and aid and medical specialists denounce the action, stating that mortality will increase. Activists say that the dismantling of this institution is not just a financial shortfall, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and birth control and maternal healthcare. Numerous groups say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by diminishing aid, especially in war zones. As the year ends, data shows how hundreds of thousands of people have already died 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 choice to reduce international development funding 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 alongside the annual UN Women gathering. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to oppose what they term a UN overreach. They are in high spirits as they applaud new Washington directives on gender, diversity and abortion. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the global conference with a grave caution that “the poison of patriarchy” is back, after a analysis demonstrates that anti-rights actors are systematically eroding longstanding consensus on key women’s rights issues around the world.
Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa
Over the warmer months, a sequence of gatherings in Africa focused on the conservative family structures and national independence sparks alarm among rights advocates. In early May, a national leader and spouse open a significant conference to resist what they label criminal foreign forces eroding traditional family values. A shortly thereafter, another continental gathering on conservative ethics is held. Both events are graced by leading Western campaigners against gender ideology, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker urges African NGOs to push back against “radical global social engineering” of international organizations. In June, a major religious institution hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in an African nation, an event that health activists say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Advocates remark that the level of external participation has grown significantly.
Contraceptive Destruction Order
As health facilities across Africa report they are facing shortages of birth control, including post-rape care packages, the US announces in midsummer plans to destroy millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a European depot. A global sexual health network states that their incineration will prevent countless females from family planning options, and lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The organization labels the plan an ideological decision “about exporting a regressive policy worldwide” and “an intentional act of reproductive coercion”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “callous and reckless”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, 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
Bringing back the anti-abortion funding ban, which prohibits Washington's support for groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is typical of certain US administrations. It came as no surprise when the rule was reinstated in January. The administration also signed onto a conservative consensus document. But in the autumn, the US announces it intends to extend the restrictions to include governments and multilateral organisations in addition to NGOs, and to cover diversity programmes. Further specifics about the expansion of the rule are likely forthcoming. A director of a major health partnership says widening the scope will have “devastating consequences”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being negotiated with countries in Africa will become dependent on agreeing to the expanded global gag.
