Five Critical Significant Developments in the Challenge to the Freedoms of Women and Girls in 2025.
Twelve months prior, feminist advocacy groups were bracing themselves for a Trump presidency sequel. Scarcely anyone expected. The torrent and swiftness of White House mandates emanating from the White House were seen as a intentional maneuver to induce a state of shock. To a large extent, it succeeded – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as networks struggled to fill the gap left by a freeze on international development funds. But that was just the beginning.
The American government has been the main instigator, complemented by vigorous campaigning by far-right organisations using the moment to strengthen global ties with political allies.
The movement against gender equality refers to a global network of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as affluent financiers and clans that strive to weaken progress across a wide spectrum of issues. This covers abortion, LGBTQ rights, trans rights, non-traditional family structures and comprehensive sexuality education.
They do this by lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to promote fairness, circulating falsehoods, and resourcing aligned NGOs.
We analyze five junctures that affected the protection, honor, and existence of females globally.
The Demise of a Major Aid Agency
In early spring, a month and a half following a major US aid agency is its funds are blocked, causing international chaos, a top American diplomat states that the lion's share of the body's projects will be terminated. US diplomats, past leaders and humanitarian and health experts criticize the move, warning that lives will be lost. Rights defenders say that the dismantling of this institution is not just a financial shortfall, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and access to contraception and reproductive health services. Many organisations say females will bear the brunt by reduced funding, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, evidence indicates how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from illness, famine, inadequate obstetric services, and violence against women, with millions more to come. Another pair of leading funders initiate similar reductions. A leader of an international advocacy group says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is a move to appease a political ally.
Faith-Based Activists Mobilize at UN Conference
In March, several conservative religious groups meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a two-day conference held alongside the international conference on women's rights. It is an forum to discuss methods on how to defeat the UN’s “radical agenda”. They are in high spirits as they celebrate shifts in US policy on gender, diversity and abortion. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the women’s summit with a somber alert that “the toxin of gendered hierarchy” is resurgent, after a study indicates that opponents of gender equality are deliberately weakening historic agreements on fundamental freedoms for women 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 May, a head of state and partner open a large assembly to push back on what they label external influences undermining local norms. A soon after, another Pan-African conference on traditional morals is held. Both events are graced by leading Western campaigners against gender ideology, including heads of influential networks. One speaker calls on African NGOs to resist “international liberal agenda” of global institutions. In the following month, a prominent church hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in the region, an event that health activists say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Advocates remark that the level of external participation has grown significantly.
US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives
As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are facing shortages of birth control, including post-rape care packages, the US announces in midsummer plans to dispose of millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a warehouse in Europe. A global sexual health network states that their destruction will deny countless females from access to birth control, and lead to a surge in unplanned pregnancies and dangerous terminations. The organization labels the plan an ideological decision “about forcing a conservative worldview globally” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A international emergency medical charity calls it “heartless and dangerous”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains at a standstill as the regional government refuse to permit perfectly good supplies to be incinerated.
‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded
Reviving the global gag rule, which cuts American funding for groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is standard practice for certain US administrations. It was widely expected when the ban was reimposed 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 broaden the scope of the policy to include governments and multilateral organisations in addition to NGOs, and to cover diversity programmes. More details on the broader enforcement are anticipated next year. A expert in child welfare says extending the reach will have “devastating consequences”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that new US aid packages being negotiated with countries in Africa will become contingent upon adopting the new, wider policy.
