🔗 Share this article Five Crucial Incidents in the Rollback of the Freedoms of Women and Girls in 2025. A year ago, groups dedicated to gender equality were preparing for a Trump presidency sequel. Scarcely anyone expected. The flood and velocity of presidential directives originating in the White House were regarded as a intentional maneuver to induce a state of shock. In many ways it worked – there was bewilderment, fury, and fatigue as networks struggled to address the shortfall left by a freeze on international development funds. But that was just the beginning. The Washington leadership has been the key driver, aided by relentless activism by religious fundamentalist networks using the moment to forge international alliances with ideological partners. The anti-rights movement denotes an international coalition of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that seek to undermine forward movement on multiple topics. Areas targeted involve pro-choice policies, equality for sexual minorities, gender identity recognition, and inclusive relationship teaching. They pursue this agenda via pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups. We look at five junctures that affected the safety, dignity and lives of the female population. USAID Dismantled In March, a month and a half following a prominent humanitarian funder is frozen, causing global disruption, a top American diplomat confirms that nearly all of the organization's initiatives will be axed. US diplomats, former presidents and relief and public health authorities condemn the news, cautioning that mortality will increase. Human rights advocates say that the closure of the organization is not just a financial shortfall, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and family planning and reproductive care. Many organisations say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by reduced funding, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, data shows how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with many more millions at risk. Another pair of leading funders announce their own austerity measures. A head of a worldwide campaign network says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is a move to appease a political ally. Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit In March, several Christian-right organisations meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a biannual gathering 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 buoyant mood as they applaud new Washington directives on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the world's top diplomat opens the gender equality forum with a somber alert that “the toxin of gendered hierarchy” is returning, after a analysis demonstrates that anti-rights actors are deliberately weakening established norms on key women’s rights issues around the world. Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa Over the summer, a sequence of gatherings in Africa centered on the traditional family and national sovereignty sparks alarm among rights advocates. In May, a national leader and spouse open a large assembly to combat what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A soon after, another regional summit on family values is held. Both events are attended by leading Western campaigners against gender ideology, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker calls on African NGOs to stand up to “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of multilateral bodies. In the following month, a prominent church hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in the region, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Campaigners note that the extent of foreign involvement has increased markedly. American Plan to Burn Birth Control As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are depleting their stocks of family planning supplies, including emergency kits for survivors of sexual violence, the US announces in July plans to incinerate a vast stockpile of birth control held in a storage facility in Belgium. A major reproductive health federation states that their destruction will deny countless females from contraceptive supplies, 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 calculated move to control fertility”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “heartless and dangerous”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains unresolved as the regional government are blocking 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 commonplace under certain US administrations. It came as no surprise when the rule was reinstated 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 cover diversity programmes. Further specifics about the broader enforcement are anticipated next year. A director of a major health partnership says extending the reach will have “unimaginable effects”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that new US aid packages being arranged with states on the continent will become contingent upon adopting the expanded global gag.
A year ago, groups dedicated to gender equality were preparing for a Trump presidency sequel. Scarcely anyone expected. The flood and velocity of presidential directives originating in the White House were regarded as a intentional maneuver to induce a state of shock. In many ways it worked – there was bewilderment, fury, and fatigue as networks struggled to address the shortfall left by a freeze on international development funds. But that was just the beginning. The Washington leadership has been the key driver, aided by relentless activism by religious fundamentalist networks using the moment to forge international alliances with ideological partners. The anti-rights movement denotes an international coalition of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that seek to undermine forward movement on multiple topics. Areas targeted involve pro-choice policies, equality for sexual minorities, gender identity recognition, and inclusive relationship teaching. They pursue this agenda via pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups. We look at five junctures that affected the safety, dignity and lives of the female population. USAID Dismantled In March, a month and a half following a prominent humanitarian funder is frozen, causing global disruption, a top American diplomat confirms that nearly all of the organization's initiatives will be axed. US diplomats, former presidents and relief and public health authorities condemn the news, cautioning that mortality will increase. Human rights advocates say that the closure of the organization is not just a financial shortfall, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and family planning and reproductive care. Many organisations say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by reduced funding, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, data shows how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with many more millions at risk. Another pair of leading funders announce their own austerity measures. A head of a worldwide campaign network says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is a move to appease a political ally. Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit In March, several Christian-right organisations meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a biannual gathering 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 buoyant mood as they applaud new Washington directives on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the world's top diplomat opens the gender equality forum with a somber alert that “the toxin of gendered hierarchy” is returning, after a analysis demonstrates that anti-rights actors are deliberately weakening established norms on key women’s rights issues around the world. Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa Over the summer, a sequence of gatherings in Africa centered on the traditional family and national sovereignty sparks alarm among rights advocates. In May, a national leader and spouse open a large assembly to combat what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A soon after, another regional summit on family values is held. Both events are attended by leading Western campaigners against gender ideology, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker calls on African NGOs to stand up to “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of multilateral bodies. In the following month, a prominent church hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in the region, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Campaigners note that the extent of foreign involvement has increased markedly. American Plan to Burn Birth Control As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are depleting their stocks of family planning supplies, including emergency kits for survivors of sexual violence, the US announces in July plans to incinerate a vast stockpile of birth control held in a storage facility in Belgium. A major reproductive health federation states that their destruction will deny countless females from contraceptive supplies, 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 calculated move to control fertility”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “heartless and dangerous”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains unresolved as the regional government are blocking 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 commonplace under certain US administrations. It came as no surprise when the rule was reinstated 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 cover diversity programmes. Further specifics about the broader enforcement are anticipated next year. A director of a major health partnership says extending the reach will have “unimaginable effects”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that new US aid packages being arranged with states on the continent will become contingent upon adopting the expanded global gag.