Five Critical Landmark Occurrences in the Assault on the Freedoms of Women and Girls in This Past Year.

Twelve months prior, groups dedicated to gender equality were anticipating a return of Donald Trump to office. Hardly anyone anticipated. The torrent and swiftness of executive orders issued from the White House were viewed as a intentional maneuver to overwhelm and create panic. To a large extent, it succeeded – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as agencies hastened to fill the gap left by a major funding freeze. But this merely marked the opening act.

The US administration has been the key driver, complemented by intense advocacy work by religious fundamentalist networks using the moment to build worldwide connections with political allies.

This opposition to progressive rights describes a worldwide alliance of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as wealthy philanthropists and dynasties that work to dismantle progress across a wide spectrum of issues. These include 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 push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups.

We look at five episodes that impacted the security, respect, and well-being of women and girls.

USAID Effectively Dismantled

In March, six weeks after a prominent humanitarian funder is frozen, causing widespread distress, a senior US official reveals that a vast majority of the agency’s programmes will be eliminated. American foreign service officers, ex-presidents and humanitarian and health experts denounce the action, predicting that fatalities will ensue. Activists say that the dismantling of this institution is more than a funding crisis, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and family planning and reproductive care. Numerous groups say females will bear the brunt by waning support, especially in regions of instability. As the year ends, data shows how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with millions more to come. Additional key contributing countries initiate similar reductions. A director of a global justice organization says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is an attempt to placate a powerful partner.

Faith-Based Activists Mobilize at UN Conference

In March, several conservative religious groups meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a strategic summit held concurrently with 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 optimistic frame of mind as they welcome shifts in US policy on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the women’s summit with a stark warning that “the toxin of gendered hierarchy” is resurgent, after a analysis demonstrates that groups opposing progressive rights are deliberately weakening historic agreements 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 themed around the traditional family and national sovereignty sparks alarm among rights advocates. In the start of May, a head of state and partner open a large assembly to resist what they label criminal foreign forces eroding traditional family values. A few days later, another continental gathering on family values is held. Both events are attended by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker calls on African NGOs to push back against “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of multilateral bodies. In the following month, a prominent church hosts a family strengthening conference in an African nation, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Campaigners note that the scale of their presence has grown significantly.

US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives

As medical centers in numerous African countries report they are running out of contraceptives, including emergency kits for survivors of sexual violence, the US announces in July plans to destroy a vast stockpile of birth control held in a warehouse in Europe. A global sexual health network states that their elimination will deprive millions of women and girls from family planning options, and lead to a surge in unplanned pregnancies and dangerous terminations. The organization labels the plan an politically-motivated move “about forcing a conservative worldview globally” and “a deliberate form of reproductive oppression”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “heartless and dangerous”. Charities attempt to acquire the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains in deadlock as local authorities refuse to permit usable products to be destroyed.

Broader Restrictions on Aid

Bringing back the anti-abortion funding ban, which prohibits Washington's support for groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is typical of certain US administrations. It was widely expected when the ban was reimposed in January. The administration also signed onto a conservative consensus document. But in the autumn, the US announces it intends to expand the global gag rule 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 likely forthcoming. A leader in global maternal health says widening the scope will have “devastating consequences”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that fresh American assistance deals being negotiated with countries in Africa will become contingent upon adopting the new, wider policy.