Five Landmark Occurrences in the Attack on the Rights of Women and Girls in the Year 2025.
This time last year, women’s rights organisations were preparing for a new Trump administration. Hardly anyone anticipated. The volume and speed of presidential directives issued from the White House were viewed as a deliberate tactic to induce a state of shock. The tactic proved effective – there was bewilderment, fury, and fatigue as organisations scrambled to address the shortfall left by a abrupt cessation of financial support. But that was just the beginning.
The US administration has been the key driver, aided by fervent lobbying efforts by far-right organisations capitalizing on the climate to strengthen global ties with ideological partners.
The anti-rights movement denotes an international coalition of government figures, churches, and advocacy collectives as well as billionaire families and individuals that work to dismantle progress across a wide spectrum of issues. This covers pro-choice policies, equality for sexual minorities, gender identity recognition, and inclusive relationship teaching.
They pursue this agenda via lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to advance equality, spreading disinformation, and funding non-profit organisations.
We analyze five instances that shaped the protection, honor, and existence of women and girls.
The Dismantling of USAID
In March, shortly after a prominent humanitarian funder is frozen, causing turmoil around the world, a top American diplomat confirms that the lion's share of the body's projects will be terminated. Career diplomats, ex-presidents and relief and public health authorities criticize the move, predicting that mortality will increase. Human rights advocates say that the dismantling of this institution is more than a funding crisis, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and family planning and reproductive care. Numerous groups say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by waning support, especially in regions of instability. As the year ends, evidence indicates how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with a far greater catastrophe looming. 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 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 strategic summit held in parallel with the international conference on women's rights. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to counter the UN's progressive policies. They are in buoyant mood as they celebrate new Washington directives on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the gender equality forum with a grave caution that “the toxin of gendered hierarchy” is returning, after a analysis demonstrates that groups opposing progressive rights are actively undermining established norms on key women’s rights issues around the world.
African ‘Family Values’ Conferences
Over the summer, a series of conferences in Africa centered on the traditional family and national sovereignty triggers anxiety among rights advocates. In early May, a head of state and partner open a large assembly to push back on what they label criminal foreign forces eroding traditional family values. A soon after, another Pan-African conference on family values is held. Both events are participated in by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker urges African NGOs to stand up to “international liberal agenda” of international organizations. In June, a major religious institution hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in an African nation, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Campaigners note that the extent of foreign involvement has grown significantly.
American Plan to Burn Birth Control
As health facilities across Africa report they are running out of contraceptives, including prophylaxis for assault victims, the US announces in midsummer plans to incinerate millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a warehouse in Europe. A global sexual health network states that their elimination will deprive countless females from family planning options, and lead to a surge in unplanned pregnancies and dangerous terminations. The organization labels the plan an dogmatic choice “about exporting a regressive policy worldwide” and “an intentional act of reproductive coercion”. A renowned doctors' group calls it “callous and reckless”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can be distributed to those in need, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains unresolved as host nation officials refuse to permit the destruction of viable medicines.
Broader Restrictions on Aid
Bringing back the anti-abortion funding ban, which prohibits Washington's support for groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is commonplace under certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the rule was reinstated in the first month of the year. The administration also signed onto a conservative consensus document. But in October, 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 policy's widened application are expected in early 2026. A leader in global maternal health says extending the reach will have “catastrophic impacts”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being negotiated with countries in Africa will become dependent on agreeing to the expanded global gag.
