Five Significant Developments in the Erosion of the Rights of Women and Girls in the Past Year.
This time last year, feminist advocacy groups were steeling themselves against a new Trump administration. Hardly anyone anticipated. The flood and velocity of presidential directives coming out of the White House were viewed as a deliberate tactic to cause confusion and fear. To a large extent, it succeeded – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as groups rushed to compensate for the loss left by a abrupt cessation of financial support. But this was only the precursor.
The Trump administration has been the primary force, complemented by fervent lobbying efforts by religious fundamentalist networks seizing the opportunity to build worldwide connections with ideological partners.
The movement against gender equality refers to a global network of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as billionaire families and individuals that aim to roll back advances on numerous fronts. This covers pro-choice policies, equality for sexual minorities, gender identity recognition, and inclusive relationship teaching.
They do this by lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to advance equality, spreading disinformation, and funding non-profit organisations.
We examine five instances that shaped the protection, honor, and existence of females globally.
The Demise of a Major Aid Agency
In early spring, six weeks after a prominent humanitarian funder is halted, causing international chaos, a senior US official reveals that a vast majority of the agency’s programmes will be eliminated. American foreign service officers, past leaders and aid and medical specialists condemn the news, predicting that people will die as a result. Human rights advocates say that the demise of the agency is greater than a budgetary issue, it is a savage attack on human rights and family planning and reproductive care. A multitude of agencies say females will bear the brunt by reduced funding, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, data shows how a tremendous loss of life has already occurred from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with many more millions at risk. Another pair of leading funders proceed with parallel slashes. A head of a worldwide campaign network says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is a gesture of alignment with another government's agenda.
Faith-Based Activists Mobilize at UN Conference
In March, several Christian-right organisations meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a biannual gathering held alongside the UN's flagship gender equality meeting. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to counter the UN's progressive policies. They are in high spirits as they applaud shifts in US policy on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the world's top diplomat opens the global conference with a stark warning that “the venom of male dominance” is back, after a analysis demonstrates that anti-rights actors are deliberately weakening 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 centered on the conservative family structures and national independence triggers anxiety among equality campaigners. In May, a president and first lady open a major forum to push back on what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A few days later, another continental gathering on family values is held. Both events are graced by leading American and European conservative activists, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker urges African NGOs to stand up to “international liberal agenda” of international organizations. In the following month, a prominent church hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in an African nation, an event that health activists say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Advocates remark that the scale of their presence has grown significantly.
American Plan to Burn Birth Control
As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are facing shortages of birth control, including post-rape care packages, the US announces in July plans to destroy millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a European depot. A leading family planning organization states that their incineration will prevent millions of women and girls from family planning options, and lead to a surge in unplanned pregnancies and dangerous terminations. The organization labels the plan an politically-motivated move “about forcing a conservative worldview globally” and “a deliberate form of reproductive oppression”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “heartless and dangerous”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains at a standstill as local authorities refuse to permit usable products to be destroyed.
‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded
Reviving the global gag rule, which halts US aid to groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is commonplace under certain US administrations. It was widely expected when the ban was reimposed in January. The administration also rejoined an international anti-abortion agreement. But in the autumn, the US announces it intends to extend the restrictions to include sovereign states and UN agencies in addition to NGOs, and to cover diversity programmes. Further specifics about the broader enforcement are anticipated next year. A leader in global maternal health says extending the reach will have “unimaginable effects”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being discussed with African nations will become dependent on agreeing to the new, wider policy.
