Five Defining Landmark Occurrences in the Attack on the Rights of Women and Girls in This Past Year.
This time last year, organisations advocating for women's rights were anticipating a new Trump administration. Few were prepared for. The volume and speed of executive orders issued from the White House were viewed as a calculated strategy to cause confusion and fear. This strategy had its intended impact – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as agencies hastened to compensate for the loss left by a sudden aid suspension. But the situation was about to worsen.
The Trump administration has been the main instigator, complemented by vigorous campaigning by far-right organisations capitalizing on the climate to strengthen global ties with political allies.
The movement against gender equality signifies a transnational grouping of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as billionaire families and individuals that seek to undermine forward movement on multiple topics. This encompasses access to termination, gay and trans protections, alternative households, and factual sexual instruction.
They pursue this agenda via pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups.
We look at five moments that influenced the safety, dignity and lives of women and girls.
USAID Effectively Dismantled
In March, six weeks after a major US aid agency is frozen, causing widespread distress, a top American diplomat states that nearly all of the institution's work will be scrapped. US diplomats, ex-presidents and aid and medical specialists condemn the news, warning that people will die as a result. 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 birth control and maternal healthcare. Numerous groups say the impact on girls and women will be severe by waning support, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, reports confirm how a significant mortality toll has been exacted from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Additional key contributing countries announce their own austerity measures. A director of a global justice organization says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is an attempt to placate a powerful partner.
Faith-Based Activists Mobilize at UN Conference
In the same month, several conservative religious groups meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a strategic summit held in parallel with the annual UN Women gathering. It is an chance to exchange strategies on how to counter the UN's progressive policies. They are in buoyant mood as they welcome new Washington directives on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the world's top diplomat opens the gender equality forum with a grave caution that “the venom of male dominance” is resurgent, after a report shows that anti-rights actors are actively undermining established norms on core aspects of gender equality around the world.
Summits Promoting Conservative Norms
Over the summer, a sequence of gatherings in Africa themed around the conservative family structures and national independence raises concerns among human rights defenders. In the start of May, a president and first lady open a significant conference to combat what they label external influences undermining local norms. A soon after, another continental gathering on family values is held. Both events are participated in by leading American and European conservative activists, including heads of influential networks. One speaker calls on African NGOs to push back against “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of global institutions. In June, 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 extent of foreign involvement has grown significantly.
US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives
As medical centers in numerous African countries report they are facing shortages of birth control, including post-rape care packages, the US announces in midsummer plans to destroy millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a storage facility in Belgium. A global sexual health network states that their destruction will deny countless females from contraceptive supplies, and lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The organization labels the plan an politically-motivated move “about imposing an anti-rights agenda on the entire world” and “a deliberate form of reproductive oppression”. A renowned doctors' group calls it “heartless and dangerous”. Charities attempt to acquire the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US declines every proposal. The situation remains in deadlock as host nation officials will not allow usable products to be destroyed.
‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded
Reviving the global gag rule, which prohibits Washington's support for groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is standard practice for certain US administrations. It was widely expected when the ban was reimposed in January. The administration also signed onto a conservative consensus document. But in October, the US announces it intends to extend the restrictions to include governments and multilateral organisations in addition to NGOs, and to encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. More details on the policy's widened application are likely forthcoming. A expert in child welfare says broadening the policy will have “catastrophic impacts”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being arranged with states on the continent will become contingent upon adopting the new, wider policy.
