Five Defining Pivotal Events in the Rollback of the Rights of Women and Girls in 2025.
Twelve months prior, groups dedicated to gender equality were bracing themselves for a second Trump term. Scarcely anyone expected. The volume and speed of administrative decrees originating in the White House were seen as a calculated strategy to overwhelm and create panic. The tactic proved effective – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as groups rushed to plug the hole left by a abrupt cessation of financial support. But that was just the beginning.
The Washington leadership has been the main instigator, supported by fervent lobbying efforts by deeply conservative factions exploiting the situation to strengthen global ties with like-minded governments.
The movement against gender equality describes a worldwide alliance of government figures, churches, and advocacy collectives as well as wealthy philanthropists and dynasties that strive to weaken progress across a wide spectrum of issues. Areas targeted involve abortion, LGBTQ rights, trans rights, non-traditional family structures and comprehensive sexuality education.
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 analyze five junctures that shaped the safety, dignity and lives of females globally.
USAID Effectively Dismantled
In March, shortly after a prominent humanitarian funder is suspended, causing global disruption, a leading figure in the administration confirms that the lion's share of the organization's initiatives will be axed. US diplomats, former presidents and relief and public health authorities criticize the move, warning that lives will be lost. Rights defenders say that the closure of the organization is more than a funding crisis, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and family planning and reproductive care. Numerous groups say females will bear the brunt by diminishing aid, especially in war zones. As the year ends, reports confirm how a significant mortality toll has been exacted from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Another pair of leading funders announce their own austerity measures. A director of a global justice organization says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is a move to appease a political ally.
Conservative Religious Groups Lobby at UN Women Meeting
In March, several faith-based advocacy networks meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a strategic summit held in parallel with the UN's flagship gender equality meeting. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to defeat the UN’s “radical agenda”. They are in buoyant mood as they welcome new Washington directives on gender, diversity and abortion. Meanwhile, the world's top diplomat opens the global conference with a grave caution that “the venom of male dominance” is resurgent, after a study indicates that anti-rights actors are deliberately weakening established norms on fundamental freedoms for women around the world.
Summits Promoting Conservative Norms
Over the summer, a cluster of meetings in Africa focused on the conventional household and state autonomy triggers anxiety among equality campaigners. In early 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 Pan-African conference on traditional morals is held. Both events are participated in by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to push back against “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of global institutions. In June, a global faith group hosts a family strengthening conference in the region, an event that health activists say has become a forum for opposing queer and trans rights. Campaigners note that the extent of foreign involvement has expanded considerably.
American Plan to Burn Birth Control
As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are running out of contraceptives, including prophylaxis for assault victims, the US announces in midsummer plans to destroy a vast stockpile of birth control held in a European depot. A global sexual health network states that their elimination will deprive countless females from family planning options, and lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The organization labels the plan an ideological decision “about forcing a conservative worldview globally” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A renowned doctors' group calls it “callous and reckless”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US declines every proposal. The situation remains unresolved as the regional government will not allow the destruction of viable medicines.
Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy
Bringing back the anti-abortion funding ban, which halts US aid to groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is standard practice for certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the rule was reinstated in the first month of the year. The administration also signed onto a conservative consensus document. But in October, the US announces it intends to expand the global gag rule to include national governments and international bodies in addition to NGOs, and to cover diversity programmes. Additional information regarding the policy's widened application are expected in early 2026. A leader in global maternal health says broadening the policy will have “catastrophic impacts”. Pro-choice activists fear that new US aid packages being arranged with states on the continent will become conditional on accepting the new, wider policy.
