Five Critical Pivotal Events in the Attack on the Freedoms of Women and Girls in the Year 2025.
Twelve months prior, organisations advocating for women's rights were preparing for a Trump presidency sequel. Scarcely anyone expected. The torrent and swiftness of administrative decrees coming out of the White House were seen as a deliberate tactic to paralyze through overload. In many ways it worked – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as agencies hastened to compensate for the loss left by a abrupt cessation of financial support. But this was only the precursor.
The Washington leadership has been the main instigator, complemented by intense advocacy work by religious fundamentalist networks using the moment to strengthen global ties with ideological partners.
This opposition to progressive rights denotes an international coalition of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as billionaire families and individuals that aim to roll back gains in a variety of areas. This encompasses reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed.
They achieve this through advocating to officials, financing legal challenges, sabotaging multilateral work to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups.
We examine five moments that shaped the protection, honor, and existence of women and girls.
The Demise of a Major Aid Agency
In March, shortly after a major US aid agency is suspended, causing widespread distress, a leading figure in the administration states that the lion's share of the body's projects will be terminated. Career diplomats, past leaders and aid and medical specialists condemn the news, predicting that fatalities will ensue. Rights defenders 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. Many organisations say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by diminishing aid, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, statistics reveal how a significant mortality toll has been exacted from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Additional key contributing countries proceed with parallel slashes. 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.
Conservative Religious Groups Lobby at UN Women Meeting
In the same month, several conservative religious groups meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a two-day conference held in parallel 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 gender, diversity and abortion. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the women’s summit with a grave caution that “the poison of patriarchy” is resurgent, after a analysis demonstrates that anti-rights actors are deliberately weakening historic agreements on fundamental freedoms for women around the world.
African ‘Family Values’ Conferences
Over the summer, a series of conferences in Africa focused on the conservative family structures and national independence raises concerns among rights advocates. In May, a president and first lady open a major forum to push back on what they label criminal foreign forces eroding traditional family values. A few days later, another regional summit on traditional morals is held. Both events are attended by leading American and European conservative activists, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker urges African NGOs to push back against “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of international organizations. In June, a prominent church hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in an African nation, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Advocates remark that the scale of their presence has grown significantly.
American Plan to Burn Birth Control
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 dispose of a vast stockpile of birth control held in a storage facility in Belgium. A leading family planning organization states that their incineration will prevent a huge female population from contraceptive supplies, 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 rejects each bid. The situation remains at a standstill as local authorities are blocking usable products to be destroyed.
Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy
Reviving the global gag rule, which prohibits Washington's support for groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is commonplace under certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the rule was reinstated in January. The administration also rejoined an international anti-abortion agreement. 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 encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. More details on the broader enforcement are expected in early 2026. A director of a major health partnership says broadening the policy will have “devastating consequences”. Pro-choice activists fear that fresh American assistance deals being negotiated with countries in Africa will become dependent on agreeing to the broadened restrictions.
