A Quintet of Crucial Incidents in the Assault on the Freedoms of Women and Girls in the Past Year.
Twelve months prior, women’s rights organisations were bracing themselves for a second Trump term. Hardly anyone anticipated. The flood and velocity of administrative decrees coming out of the White House were regarded 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 freeze on international development funds. But this merely marked the opening act.
The US administration has been the central catalyst, aided by relentless activism by ultra-conservative groups capitalizing on the climate to solidify transnational relationships with sympathetic regimes.
Often termed the anti-gender movement denotes an international coalition of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as wealthy philanthropists and dynasties that seek to undermine progress across a wide spectrum of issues. Areas targeted involve access to termination, gay and trans protections, alternative households, and factual sexual instruction.
They accomplish their goals by influencing policymakers, funding litigation, undermining global initiatives to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups.
We analyze five moments that influenced the protection, honor, and existence of girls and women.
USAID Effectively Dismantled
In early spring, a month and a half following a key American development organization is its funds are blocked, causing international chaos, a leading figure in the administration confirms that over eighty percent of the institution's work will be scrapped. US diplomats, former presidents and relief and public health authorities decry the decision, warning that fatalities will ensue. Activists say that the demise of the agency is more than a funding crisis, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and access to contraception and reproductive health services. A multitude of agencies say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by reduced funding, especially in regions of instability. As the year ends, statistics reveal how a significant mortality toll has been exacted from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with millions more to come. Two other major donor nations 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.
Conservative Religious Groups Lobby at UN Women Meeting
In the same month, several conservative religious groups meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a two-day conference held concurrently with the international conference on women's rights. It is an chance to exchange strategies on how to counter the UN's progressive policies. They are in high spirits as they applaud new Washington directives on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the gender equality forum with a grave caution that “the poison of patriarchy” is resurgent, after a study indicates that groups opposing progressive rights are deliberately weakening historic agreements on fundamental freedoms for women around the world.
Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa
Over the warmer months, a sequence of gatherings in Africa centered on the conservative family structures and national independence sparks alarm among rights advocates. In May, a head of state and partner open a significant conference to combat what they label criminal foreign forces eroding traditional family values. A few days later, another regional summit on traditional morals is held. Both events are graced by leading American and European conservative activists, including heads of influential networks. One speaker urges African NGOs to stand up to “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of multilateral bodies. In June, a major religious institution hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in West Africa, an event that health activists say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Advocates remark that the extent of foreign involvement has expanded considerably.
US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives
As medical centers in numerous African countries report they are depleting their stocks of family planning supplies, including prophylaxis for assault victims, the US announces in midsummer plans to dispose of millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a European depot. A leading family planning organization states that their incineration will prevent countless females from access to birth control, and lead to a public health crisis of unwanted pregnancies. The organization labels the plan an politically-motivated move “about imposing an anti-rights agenda on the entire world” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A renowned doctors' group calls it “heartless and dangerous”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains unresolved as host nation officials are blocking usable products to be destroyed.
Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy
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 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 extend the restrictions to include national governments and international bodies in addition to NGOs, and to encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. Further specifics about the policy's widened application are likely forthcoming. A expert in child welfare says widening the scope will have “unimaginable effects”. Pro-choice activists fear that new US aid packages being discussed with African nations will become conditional on accepting the new, wider policy.
