Five Landmark Occurrences in the Rollback of the Rights of Females in the Year 2025.

Twelve months prior, groups dedicated to gender equality were preparing for a return of Donald Trump to office. Few were prepared for. The volume and speed of White House mandates originating in the White House were interpreted as a calculated strategy to induce a state of shock. To a large extent, it succeeded – there was bewilderment, fury, and fatigue as organisations scrambled to address the shortfall left by a sudden aid suspension. But that was just the beginning.

The US administration has been the key driver, complemented by fervent lobbying efforts by deeply conservative factions using the moment to solidify transnational relationships with like-minded governments.

This opposition to progressive rights describes a worldwide alliance of political leaders, religious institutions, civil society groups as well as wealthy philanthropists and dynasties that aim to roll back forward movement on multiple topics. This encompasses access to termination, gay and trans protections, alternative households, and factual sexual instruction.

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 look at five instances that impacted the safety, dignity and lives of women and girls.

The Dismantling of USAID

In March, shortly after a major US aid agency is its funds are blocked, causing international chaos, a top American diplomat states that a vast majority of the body's projects will be terminated. Career diplomats, ex-presidents and aid and medical specialists decry the decision, cautioning that people will die as a result. Human rights advocates say that the dismantling of this institution is greater than a budgetary issue, it is a savage attack on human rights and access to contraception and reproductive health services. A multitude of agencies say the impact on girls and women will be severe by waning support, especially in regions of instability. 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 many more millions at risk. Additional key contributing countries initiate similar reductions. A leader of an international advocacy group says a choice to reduce international development funding is an attempt to placate a powerful partner.

Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit

In the same month, several Christian-right organisations meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a strategic summit held concurrently with the international conference on women's rights. It is an forum to discuss methods on how to oppose what they term a UN overreach. They are in buoyant mood as they applaud changes in American foreign policy on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the global conference with a somber alert that “the venom of male dominance” is returning, after a study indicates that anti-rights actors are systematically eroding historic agreements on key women’s rights issues around the world.

African ‘Family Values’ Conferences

Over the warmer months, a sequence of gatherings in Africa themed around the conventional household and state autonomy triggers anxiety among rights advocates. In the start of May, a head of state and partner open a major forum to combat what they label criminal foreign forces eroding traditional family values. A shortly thereafter, another continental gathering on conservative ethics is held. Both events are graced by leading American and European conservative activists, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker calls on African NGOs to push back against “international liberal agenda” of global institutions. 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 a forum for opposing queer and trans rights. Activists observe that the scale of their presence has increased markedly.

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 midsummer plans to destroy millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a warehouse in Europe. A global sexual health network states that their elimination will deprive a huge female population from family planning options, and lead to a surge in unplanned pregnancies and dangerous terminations. The organization labels the plan an ideological decision “about exporting a regressive policy worldwide” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A renowned doctors' group calls it “cruel and irresponsible”. Charities attempt to acquire the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains at a standstill as the regional government will not allow usable products to be destroyed.

Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy

Bringing back the anti-abortion funding ban, which prohibits Washington's support for groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is typical of certain US administrations. It came as no surprise when the policy was restored in the first month of the year. The administration also rejoined an international anti-abortion agreement. But in October, the US announces it intends to broaden the scope of the policy to include governments and multilateral organisations in addition to NGOs, and to include DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) projects. Additional information regarding the broader enforcement are anticipated next year. A director of a major health partnership says broadening the policy will have “catastrophic impacts”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that fresh American assistance deals being negotiated with countries in Africa will become contingent upon adopting the new, wider policy.