🔗 Share this article A Quintet of Significant Developments in the Assault on the Freedoms of Women and Girls in This Past Year. Twelve months prior, groups dedicated to gender equality were steeling themselves against a Trump presidency sequel. The ensuing chaos was largely unforeseen. The flood and velocity of administrative decrees originating in the White House were seen as a intentional maneuver to overwhelm and create panic. In many ways it worked – there was bewilderment, fury, and fatigue as groups rushed to fill the gap left by a freeze on international development funds. But that was just the beginning. The Washington leadership has been the key driver, complemented by relentless activism by far-right organisations using the moment to forge international alliances with sympathetic regimes. The anti-rights movement refers to a global network of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as affluent financiers and clans that seek to undermine progress across a wide spectrum of issues. Areas targeted involve reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed. They do this by advocating to officials, financing legal challenges, sabotaging multilateral work to promote fairness, circulating falsehoods, and resourcing aligned NGOs. We look at five moments that influenced the security, respect, and well-being of females globally. The Demise of a Major Aid Agency In March, a month and a half following a prominent humanitarian funder is frozen, causing widespread distress, a top American diplomat announces that the lion's share of the organization's initiatives will be axed. American foreign service officers, past leaders and aid and medical specialists criticize the move, cautioning that people will die as a result. Activists say that the closure of the organization is more than a funding crisis, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and birth control and maternal healthcare. A multitude of agencies say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by diminishing aid, especially in war zones. As the year ends, reports confirm how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Additional key contributing countries follow with their own cuts. A director of a global justice organization says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is a gesture of alignment with another government's agenda. Faith-Based Activists Mobilize at UN Conference In March, several conservative religious groups meet in an luxury Manhattan venue for a strategic summit held alongside the international conference on women's rights. It is an forum to discuss methods on how to defeat the UN’s “radical agenda”. They are in buoyant mood as they welcome changes in American foreign policy on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the world's top diplomat opens the women’s summit with a somber alert that “the toxin of gendered hierarchy” is resurgent, after a study indicates that opponents of gender equality are systematically eroding longstanding consensus on core aspects of gender equality around the world. Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa Over the summer, a cluster of meetings in Africa themed around the traditional family and national sovereignty sparks alarm among equality campaigners. In early May, a national leader and spouse open a major forum to push back on what they label external influences undermining local norms. A soon after, another Pan-African conference on family values is held. Both events are graced by leading Western campaigners against gender ideology, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker urges African NGOs to stand up to “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of multilateral bodies. In the following month, a major religious institution hosts a family strengthening conference in an African nation, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Advocates remark that the extent of foreign involvement has grown significantly. American Plan to Burn Birth Control As medical centers in numerous African countries report they are facing shortages of birth control, including post-rape care packages, the US announces in July plans to destroy a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a warehouse in Europe. A global sexual health network states that their incineration will prevent 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 exporting a regressive policy worldwide” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A international emergency medical charity calls it “cruel and irresponsible”. Charities attempt to acquire the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US declines every proposal. The situation remains in deadlock as host nation officials will not allow the destruction of viable medicines. ‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded Reviving the global gag rule, which prohibits Washington's support for groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is standard practice for certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the rule was reinstated in January. The administration also reaffirmed membership in a pro-life declaration. 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 include DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) projects. Additional information regarding the policy's widened application are anticipated next year. A director of a major health partnership says broadening the policy will have “devastating consequences”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that fresh American assistance deals being negotiated with countries in Africa will become contingent upon adopting the broadened restrictions.
Twelve months prior, groups dedicated to gender equality were steeling themselves against a Trump presidency sequel. The ensuing chaos was largely unforeseen. The flood and velocity of administrative decrees originating in the White House were seen as a intentional maneuver to overwhelm and create panic. In many ways it worked – there was bewilderment, fury, and fatigue as groups rushed to fill the gap left by a freeze on international development funds. But that was just the beginning. The Washington leadership has been the key driver, complemented by relentless activism by far-right organisations using the moment to forge international alliances with sympathetic regimes. The anti-rights movement refers to a global network of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as affluent financiers and clans that seek to undermine progress across a wide spectrum of issues. Areas targeted involve reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed. They do this by advocating to officials, financing legal challenges, sabotaging multilateral work to promote fairness, circulating falsehoods, and resourcing aligned NGOs. We look at five moments that influenced the security, respect, and well-being of females globally. The Demise of a Major Aid Agency In March, a month and a half following a prominent humanitarian funder is frozen, causing widespread distress, a top American diplomat announces that the lion's share of the organization's initiatives will be axed. American foreign service officers, past leaders and aid and medical specialists criticize the move, cautioning that people will die as a result. Activists say that the closure of the organization is more than a funding crisis, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and birth control and maternal healthcare. A multitude of agencies say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by diminishing aid, especially in war zones. As the year ends, reports confirm how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Additional key contributing countries follow with their own cuts. A director of a global justice organization says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is a gesture of alignment with another government's agenda. Faith-Based Activists Mobilize at UN Conference In March, several conservative religious groups meet in an luxury Manhattan venue for a strategic summit held alongside the international conference on women's rights. It is an forum to discuss methods on how to defeat the UN’s “radical agenda”. They are in buoyant mood as they welcome changes in American foreign policy on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the world's top diplomat opens the women’s summit with a somber alert that “the toxin of gendered hierarchy” is resurgent, after a study indicates that opponents of gender equality are systematically eroding longstanding consensus on core aspects of gender equality around the world. Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa Over the summer, a cluster of meetings in Africa themed around the traditional family and national sovereignty sparks alarm among equality campaigners. In early May, a national leader and spouse open a major forum to push back on what they label external influences undermining local norms. A soon after, another Pan-African conference on family values is held. Both events are graced by leading Western campaigners against gender ideology, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker urges African NGOs to stand up to “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of multilateral bodies. In the following month, a major religious institution hosts a family strengthening conference in an African nation, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Advocates remark that the extent of foreign involvement has grown significantly. American Plan to Burn Birth Control As medical centers in numerous African countries report they are facing shortages of birth control, including post-rape care packages, the US announces in July plans to destroy a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a warehouse in Europe. A global sexual health network states that their incineration will prevent 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 exporting a regressive policy worldwide” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A international emergency medical charity calls it “cruel and irresponsible”. Charities attempt to acquire the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US declines every proposal. The situation remains in deadlock as host nation officials will not allow the destruction of viable medicines. ‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded Reviving the global gag rule, which prohibits Washington's support for groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is standard practice for certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the rule was reinstated in January. The administration also reaffirmed membership in a pro-life declaration. 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 include DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) projects. Additional information regarding the policy's widened application are anticipated next year. A director of a major health partnership says broadening the policy will have “devastating consequences”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that fresh American assistance deals being negotiated with countries in Africa will become contingent upon adopting the broadened restrictions.