🔗 Share this article Five Major Crucial Incidents in the Assault on the Rights of Women and Girls in This Past Year. In the previous year, feminist advocacy groups were steeling themselves against a new Trump administration. Few were prepared for. The volume and speed of executive orders emanating from the White House were seen as a deliberate tactic to cause confusion and fear. The tactic proved effective – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as agencies hastened to plug the hole left by a freeze on international development funds. But the situation was about to worsen. The Washington leadership has been the key driver, supported by intense advocacy work by ultra-conservative groups capitalizing on the climate to build worldwide connections with political allies. Often termed the anti-gender movement refers to a global network of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that work to dismantle forward movement on multiple topics. These include reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed. They accomplish their goals by lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups. We analyze five junctures that impacted the security, respect, and well-being of women and girls. The Dismantling of USAID In March, a month and a half following a major US aid agency is its funds are blocked, causing widespread distress, a top American diplomat states that nearly all of the body's projects will be terminated. American foreign service officers, past leaders and aid and medical specialists decry the decision, predicting that mortality will increase. Rights defenders 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. Many organisations say the impact on girls and women will be severe by diminishing aid, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, evidence indicates how a tremendous loss of life has already occurred from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Another pair of leading funders follow with their own cuts. A director of a global justice organization says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is a move to appease a political ally. Conservative Religious Groups Lobby at UN Women Meeting In the same month, several faith-based advocacy networks meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a strategic summit held in parallel with the UN's flagship gender equality meeting. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to oppose what they term a UN overreach. They are in buoyant mood as they welcome shifts in US policy on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the world's top diplomat 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 longstanding consensus 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 sparks alarm among rights advocates. In early May, a national leader and spouse open a large assembly to resist what they label criminal foreign forces eroding traditional family values. A soon after, another continental gathering on traditional morals is held. Both events are participated in by leading American and European conservative activists, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker calls on African NGOs to resist “radical global social engineering” of global institutions. In the following month, a major religious institution hosts a family strengthening conference in the region, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Activists observe that the scale of their presence has increased markedly. US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives As health facilities across Africa report they are depleting their stocks of family planning supplies, including emergency kits for survivors of sexual violence, the US announces in midsummer plans to incinerate a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a European depot. A global sexual health network states that their destruction will deny a huge female population from family planning options, and lead to a public health crisis of unwanted pregnancies. The organization labels the plan an ideological decision “about forcing a conservative worldview globally” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “cruel and irresponsible”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can be distributed to those in need, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains in deadlock as the regional government will not allow usable products to be destroyed. Broader Restrictions on Aid Reinstating the Mexico City Policy, which prohibits Washington's support for groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is typical of certain US administrations. It came as no surprise when the ban was reimposed 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 broaden the scope of the policy to include national governments and international bodies in addition to NGOs, and to cover diversity programmes. Additional information regarding the broader enforcement are anticipated next year. A leader in global maternal health says widening the scope will have “catastrophic impacts”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that fresh American assistance deals being arranged with states on the continent will become conditional on accepting the broadened restrictions.
In the previous year, feminist advocacy groups were steeling themselves against a new Trump administration. Few were prepared for. The volume and speed of executive orders emanating from the White House were seen as a deliberate tactic to cause confusion and fear. The tactic proved effective – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as agencies hastened to plug the hole left by a freeze on international development funds. But the situation was about to worsen. The Washington leadership has been the key driver, supported by intense advocacy work by ultra-conservative groups capitalizing on the climate to build worldwide connections with political allies. Often termed the anti-gender movement refers to a global network of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that work to dismantle forward movement on multiple topics. These include reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed. They accomplish their goals by lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups. We analyze five junctures that impacted the security, respect, and well-being of women and girls. The Dismantling of USAID In March, a month and a half following a major US aid agency is its funds are blocked, causing widespread distress, a top American diplomat states that nearly all of the body's projects will be terminated. American foreign service officers, past leaders and aid and medical specialists decry the decision, predicting that mortality will increase. Rights defenders 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. Many organisations say the impact on girls and women will be severe by diminishing aid, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, evidence indicates how a tremendous loss of life has already occurred from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Another pair of leading funders follow with their own cuts. A director of a global justice organization says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is a move to appease a political ally. Conservative Religious Groups Lobby at UN Women Meeting In the same month, several faith-based advocacy networks meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a strategic summit held in parallel with the UN's flagship gender equality meeting. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to oppose what they term a UN overreach. They are in buoyant mood as they welcome shifts in US policy on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the world's top diplomat 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 longstanding consensus 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 sparks alarm among rights advocates. In early May, a national leader and spouse open a large assembly to resist what they label criminal foreign forces eroding traditional family values. A soon after, another continental gathering on traditional morals is held. Both events are participated in by leading American and European conservative activists, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker calls on African NGOs to resist “radical global social engineering” of global institutions. In the following month, a major religious institution hosts a family strengthening conference in the region, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Activists observe that the scale of their presence has increased markedly. US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives As health facilities across Africa report they are depleting their stocks of family planning supplies, including emergency kits for survivors of sexual violence, the US announces in midsummer plans to incinerate a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a European depot. A global sexual health network states that their destruction will deny a huge female population from family planning options, and lead to a public health crisis of unwanted pregnancies. The organization labels the plan an ideological decision “about forcing a conservative worldview globally” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “cruel and irresponsible”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can be distributed to those in need, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains in deadlock as the regional government will not allow usable products to be destroyed. Broader Restrictions on Aid Reinstating the Mexico City Policy, which prohibits Washington's support for groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is typical of certain US administrations. It came as no surprise when the ban was reimposed 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 broaden the scope of the policy to include national governments and international bodies in addition to NGOs, and to cover diversity programmes. Additional information regarding the broader enforcement are anticipated next year. A leader in global maternal health says widening the scope will have “catastrophic impacts”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that fresh American assistance deals being arranged with states on the continent will become conditional on accepting the broadened restrictions.