Five Landmark Occurrences in the Attack on the Rights of Women and Girls in 2025.
This time last year, women’s rights organisations were bracing themselves for a return of Donald Trump to office. Few were prepared for. The torrent and swiftness of White House mandates originating in the White House were regarded as a intentional maneuver to paralyze through overload. This strategy had its intended impact – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as networks struggled 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 key driver, supported by intense advocacy work by deeply conservative factions capitalizing on the climate to strengthen global ties with ideological partners.
Often termed the anti-gender movement denotes an international coalition of political leaders, religious institutions, civil society groups as well as wealthy philanthropists and dynasties that strive to weaken advances on numerous fronts. Areas targeted involve abortion, LGBTQ rights, trans rights, non-traditional family structures and comprehensive sexuality education.
They pursue this agenda via influencing policymakers, funding litigation, undermining global initiatives to promote fairness, circulating falsehoods, and resourcing aligned NGOs.
We examine five junctures that impacted the safety, dignity and lives of women and girls.
USAID Effectively Dismantled
In March, six weeks after a key American development organization is suspended, causing turmoil around the world, a leading figure in the administration states that a vast majority of the agency’s programmes will be eliminated. American foreign service officers, past leaders and relief and public health authorities decry the decision, stating that lives will be lost. Human rights advocates say that the closure of the organization is more than a funding crisis, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and access to contraception and reproductive health services. A multitude of agencies say females will bear the brunt by diminishing aid, especially in war zones. As the year ends, reports confirm how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with many more millions at risk. Another pair of leading funders follow with their own cuts. A leader of an international advocacy group says a choice to reduce international development funding is an attempt to placate a powerful partner.
Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit
In March, several conservative religious groups meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a strategic summit held concurrently with the annual UN Women gathering. It is an forum to discuss methods on how to counter the UN's progressive policies. They are in optimistic frame of mind as they celebrate shifts in US policy on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the global conference with a grave caution that “the venom of male dominance” is returning, after a study indicates that anti-rights actors are deliberately weakening longstanding consensus on core aspects of gender equality around the world.
Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa
Over the warmer months, a sequence of gatherings in Africa focused on the traditional family and national sovereignty sparks alarm among rights advocates. In May, a president and first lady open a large assembly to combat what they label external influences undermining local norms. A shortly thereafter, another regional summit on traditional morals is held. Both events are participated in by leading American and European conservative activists, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker calls on African NGOs to stand up to “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of global institutions. In the following month, a global faith group hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in the region, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Campaigners note that the extent of foreign involvement has expanded considerably.
Contraceptive Destruction Order
As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are depleting their stocks of family planning supplies, including post-rape care packages, the US announces in midsummer plans to destroy a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a warehouse in Europe. A global sexual health network states that their elimination will deprive millions of women and girls from contraceptive supplies, and lead to a public health crisis of unwanted pregnancies. The organization labels the plan an ideological decision “about forcing a conservative worldview globally” and “a deliberate form of reproductive oppression”. A renowned doctors' group calls it “heartless and dangerous”. Charities attempt to acquire the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains at a standstill as host nation officials are blocking the destruction of viable medicines.
‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded
Reviving the global gag rule, which prohibits Washington's support for groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is commonplace under certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the rule was reinstated 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 sovereign states and UN agencies in addition to NGOs, and to cover diversity programmes. Further specifics about the expansion of the rule are expected in early 2026. A expert in child welfare says extending the reach will have “devastating consequences”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that fresh American assistance deals being negotiated with countries in Africa will become dependent on agreeing to the expanded global gag.
