Five Key Moments in the Attack on the Rights of Females in This Past Year.

This time last year, women’s rights organisations were bracing themselves for a new Trump administration. The ensuing chaos was largely unforeseen. The volume and speed of presidential directives issued from the White House were seen as a intentional maneuver to overwhelm and create panic. To a large extent, it succeeded – there was disarray, outrage, and weariness as groups rushed to address the shortfall left by a sudden aid suspension. But the situation was about to worsen.

The US administration has been the central catalyst, complemented by relentless activism by religious fundamentalist networks exploiting the situation to solidify transnational relationships with sympathetic regimes.

The movement against gender equality signifies a transnational grouping of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as affluent financiers and clans that seek to undermine gains in a variety of areas. This covers pro-choice policies, equality for sexual minorities, gender identity recognition, and inclusive relationship teaching.

They accomplish their goals by advocating to officials, financing legal challenges, sabotaging multilateral work to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups.

We review five episodes that shaped the security, respect, and well-being of the female population.

USAID Dismantled

In the month of March, a month and a half following a major US aid agency is frozen, causing global disruption, a leading figure in the administration reveals that a vast majority of the institution's work will be scrapped. US diplomats, former presidents and aid and medical specialists condemn the news, cautioning that fatalities will ensue. Human rights advocates say that the closure of the organization is not just a financial shortfall, it is a savage attack on human rights and access to contraception and reproductive health services. Numerous groups say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by diminishing aid, especially in regions of instability. As the year ends, evidence indicates how a significant mortality toll has been exacted from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with millions more to come. Another pair of leading funders initiate similar reductions. A director of a global justice organization says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is a gesture of alignment with another government's agenda.

Faith-Based Activists Mobilize at UN Conference

In March, several faith-based advocacy networks meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a biannual gathering held concurrently with the UN's flagship gender equality meeting. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to defeat the UN’s “radical agenda”. They are in high spirits as they welcome changes in American foreign policy on gender, diversity and abortion. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the women’s summit with a somber alert that “the venom of male dominance” is resurgent, after a analysis demonstrates that groups opposing progressive rights are systematically eroding established norms on key women’s rights issues around the world.

Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa

Over the summer, a series of conferences in Africa themed around the conservative family structures and national independence raises concerns among rights advocates. In the start of May, a head of state and partner open a significant conference to combat what they label criminal foreign forces eroding traditional family values. A soon after, another regional summit on family values is held. Both events are participated in 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 prominent church hosts a family strengthening conference in West Africa, an event that health activists say has become a forum for opposing queer and trans rights. Campaigners note that the level of external participation has expanded considerably.

US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives

As health facilities across Africa report they are facing shortages of birth control, 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 global sexual health network states that their incineration will prevent countless females from family planning options, and lead to a surge in unplanned pregnancies and dangerous terminations. The organization labels the plan an ideological decision “about exporting a regressive policy worldwide” and “a deliberate form of reproductive oppression”. A international emergency medical charity calls it “heartless and dangerous”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US declines every proposal. The situation remains at a standstill as host nation officials are blocking the destruction of viable medicines.

‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded

Reviving the global gag rule, which halts US aid to groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is commonplace under certain US administrations. It was widely expected when the rule was reinstated in the first month of the year. The administration also rejoined an international anti-abortion agreement. 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 encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. More details on the expansion of the rule are expected in early 2026. A leader in global maternal health says broadening the policy will have “catastrophic impacts”. Pro-choice activists fear that new US aid packages being negotiated with countries in Africa will become contingent upon adopting the expanded global gag.