🔗 Share this article Five Major Landmark Occurrences in the Assault on the Rights of Women and Girls in This Past Year. A year ago, organisations advocating for women's rights were anticipating a Trump presidency sequel. Hardly anyone anticipated. The sheer number and rapid pace of administrative decrees coming out of the White House were seen as a intentional maneuver to cause confusion and fear. The tactic proved effective – there was disarray, outrage, and weariness as networks struggled to fill the gap left by a sudden aid suspension. But this merely marked the opening act. The Trump administration has been the primary force, supported by intense advocacy work by religious fundamentalist networks exploiting the situation to forge international alliances with like-minded governments. This opposition to progressive rights describes a worldwide alliance of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that strive to weaken advances on numerous fronts. This encompasses reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed. They do this by lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to foster equity, propagating misinformation, and bankrolling sympathetic charities. We examine five instances that impacted the security, respect, and well-being of the female population. USAID Dismantled In March, six weeks after a key American development organization is frozen, causing international chaos, a leading figure in the administration states that the lion's share of the agency’s programmes will be eliminated. US diplomats, past leaders and aid and medical specialists denounce the action, cautioning that mortality will increase. Activists say that the dismantling of this institution is greater than a budgetary issue, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and family planning and reproductive care. A multitude of agencies say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by shrinking assistance, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, evidence indicates how a tremendous loss of life has already occurred from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with millions more to come. Another pair of leading funders proceed with parallel slashes. A head of a worldwide campaign network says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is a gesture of alignment with another government's agenda. Conservative Religious Groups Lobby at UN Women Meeting In the same month, several conservative religious groups meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a strategic summit held alongside 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 buoyant mood as they welcome 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 toxin of gendered hierarchy” is back, after a study indicates that groups opposing progressive rights are systematically eroding established norms on key women’s rights issues around the world. African ‘Family Values’ Conferences Over the warmer months, a cluster of meetings in Africa focused on the traditional family and national sovereignty triggers anxiety among human rights defenders. In the start of May, a national leader and spouse open a significant conference to push back on what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A soon after, another continental gathering on conservative ethics is held. Both events are graced by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including heads of influential networks. One speaker urges African NGOs to stand up to “international liberal agenda” of global institutions. In June, a major religious institution hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in the region, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Activists observe that the scale of their presence has increased markedly. American Plan to Burn Birth Control As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are running out of contraceptives, including emergency kits for survivors of sexual violence, the US announces in July plans to dispose of a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a storage facility in Belgium. A global sexual health network states that their destruction will deny countless females from family planning options, and lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The organization labels the plan an dogmatic choice “about imposing an anti-rights agenda on the entire world” 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 fulfill their original purpose, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains unresolved as the regional government refuse to permit usable products to be destroyed. Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy Reviving the global gag rule, which halts US aid to groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is commonplace under certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the policy was restored in the first month of the year. The administration also reaffirmed membership in a pro-life declaration. But in the autumn, the US announces it intends to expand the global gag rule to include governments and multilateral organisations in addition to NGOs, and to cover diversity programmes. More details on the broader enforcement are likely forthcoming. A leader in global maternal health says widening the scope will have “devastating consequences”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that fresh American assistance deals being discussed with African nations will become conditional on accepting the broadened restrictions.
A year ago, organisations advocating for women's rights were anticipating a Trump presidency sequel. Hardly anyone anticipated. The sheer number and rapid pace of administrative decrees coming out of the White House were seen as a intentional maneuver to cause confusion and fear. The tactic proved effective – there was disarray, outrage, and weariness as networks struggled to fill the gap left by a sudden aid suspension. But this merely marked the opening act. The Trump administration has been the primary force, supported by intense advocacy work by religious fundamentalist networks exploiting the situation to forge international alliances with like-minded governments. This opposition to progressive rights describes a worldwide alliance of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that strive to weaken advances on numerous fronts. This encompasses reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed. They do this by lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to foster equity, propagating misinformation, and bankrolling sympathetic charities. We examine five instances that impacted the security, respect, and well-being of the female population. USAID Dismantled In March, six weeks after a key American development organization is frozen, causing international chaos, a leading figure in the administration states that the lion's share of the agency’s programmes will be eliminated. US diplomats, past leaders and aid and medical specialists denounce the action, cautioning that mortality will increase. Activists say that the dismantling of this institution is greater than a budgetary issue, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and family planning and reproductive care. A multitude of agencies say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by shrinking assistance, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, evidence indicates how a tremendous loss of life has already occurred from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with millions more to come. Another pair of leading funders proceed with parallel slashes. A head of a worldwide campaign network says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is a gesture of alignment with another government's agenda. Conservative Religious Groups Lobby at UN Women Meeting In the same month, several conservative religious groups meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a strategic summit held alongside 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 buoyant mood as they welcome 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 toxin of gendered hierarchy” is back, after a study indicates that groups opposing progressive rights are systematically eroding established norms on key women’s rights issues around the world. African ‘Family Values’ Conferences Over the warmer months, a cluster of meetings in Africa focused on the traditional family and national sovereignty triggers anxiety among human rights defenders. In the start of May, a national leader and spouse open a significant conference to push back on what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A soon after, another continental gathering on conservative ethics is held. Both events are graced by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including heads of influential networks. One speaker urges African NGOs to stand up to “international liberal agenda” of global institutions. In June, a major religious institution hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in the region, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Activists observe that the scale of their presence has increased markedly. American Plan to Burn Birth Control As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are running out of contraceptives, including emergency kits for survivors of sexual violence, the US announces in July plans to dispose of a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a storage facility in Belgium. A global sexual health network states that their destruction will deny countless females from family planning options, and lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The organization labels the plan an dogmatic choice “about imposing an anti-rights agenda on the entire world” 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 fulfill their original purpose, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains unresolved as the regional government refuse to permit usable products to be destroyed. Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy Reviving the global gag rule, which halts US aid to groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is commonplace under certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the policy was restored in the first month of the year. The administration also reaffirmed membership in a pro-life declaration. But in the autumn, the US announces it intends to expand the global gag rule to include governments and multilateral organisations in addition to NGOs, and to cover diversity programmes. More details on the broader enforcement are likely forthcoming. A leader in global maternal health says widening the scope will have “devastating consequences”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that fresh American assistance deals being discussed with African nations will become conditional on accepting the broadened restrictions.