A Quintet of Key Moments in the Assault on the Rights of Females in 2025.
This time last year, groups dedicated to gender equality were anticipating a new Trump administration. Hardly anyone anticipated. The sheer number and rapid pace of administrative decrees originating in the White House were interpreted as a premeditated approach to induce a state of shock. To a large extent, it succeeded – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as organisations scrambled to address the shortfall left by a sudden aid suspension. But the situation was about to worsen.
The American government has been the key driver, aided by vigorous campaigning by religious fundamentalist networks using the moment to solidify transnational relationships with sympathetic regimes.
This opposition to progressive rights signifies a transnational grouping of political leaders, religious institutions, civil society groups as well as wealthy philanthropists and dynasties that seek to undermine gains in a variety of areas. These include abortion, LGBTQ rights, trans rights, non-traditional family structures and comprehensive sexuality education.
They do this by lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to promote fairness, circulating falsehoods, and resourcing aligned NGOs.
We analyze five moments that affected the protection, honor, and existence of women and girls.
USAID Dismantled
In early spring, shortly after a major US aid agency is halted, causing global disruption, a leading figure in the administration confirms that over eighty percent of the organization's initiatives will be axed. Career diplomats, former presidents and relief and public health authorities condemn the news, warning that people will die as a result. Rights defenders say that the demise of the agency is not just a financial shortfall, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and access to contraception and reproductive health services. A multitude of agencies say females will bear the brunt by reduced funding, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, evidence indicates how a tremendous loss of life has already occurred from illness, famine, inadequate obstetric services, and violence against women, with millions more to come. Another pair of leading funders announce their own austerity measures. A leader of an international advocacy group says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is a gesture of alignment with another government's agenda.
Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit
In March, several Christian-right organisations meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a two-day conference held concurrently with the international conference on women's rights. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to defeat the UN’s “radical agenda”. They are in optimistic frame of mind as they welcome shifts in US policy on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the women’s summit with a grave caution that “the venom of male dominance” is back, after a analysis demonstrates that opponents of gender equality are deliberately weakening established norms on core aspects of gender equality around the world.
Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa
Over the summer, a sequence of gatherings in Africa centered on the conventional household and state autonomy raises concerns among human rights defenders. In May, a president and first lady open a significant conference to combat what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A few days later, another Pan-African conference 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 urges African NGOs to resist “radical global social engineering” of multilateral bodies. In the following month, a prominent church hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in the region, an event that health activists say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Campaigners note that the scale of their presence has increased markedly.
Contraceptive Destruction Order
As medical centers in numerous African countries report they are running out of contraceptives, including post-rape care packages, the US announces in midsummer plans to destroy a vast stockpile of birth control held in a European depot. A major reproductive health federation states that their elimination will deprive millions of women and girls from contraceptive supplies, and lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The organization labels the plan an dogmatic choice “about imposing an anti-rights agenda on the entire world” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A renowned doctors' group calls it “cruel and irresponsible”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US declines every proposal. The situation remains in deadlock as local authorities 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 standard practice for certain US administrations. It was widely expected when the rule was reinstated in January. The administration also reaffirmed membership in a pro-life declaration. But in October, 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 policy's widened application are expected in early 2026. A leader in global maternal health says widening the scope will have “catastrophic impacts”. Pro-choice activists fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being discussed with African nations will become contingent upon adopting the expanded global gag.
