🔗 Share this article Five Significant Developments in the Attack on the Freedoms of Women and Girls in the Year 2025. A year ago, feminist advocacy groups were bracing themselves for a return of Donald Trump to office. Hardly anyone anticipated. The torrent and swiftness of administrative decrees coming out of the White House were seen as a deliberate tactic to induce a state of shock. The tactic proved effective – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as agencies hastened to compensate for the loss left by a abrupt cessation of financial support. But the situation was about to worsen. The Washington leadership has been the central catalyst, complemented by vigorous campaigning by deeply conservative factions seizing the opportunity to build worldwide connections with like-minded governments. This opposition to progressive rights denotes an international coalition of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that seek to undermine progress across a wide spectrum of issues. This covers access to termination, gay and trans protections, alternative households, and factual sexual instruction. They accomplish their goals by pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to promote fairness, circulating falsehoods, and resourcing aligned NGOs. We examine five instances that shaped the safety, dignity and lives of the female population. The Demise of a Major Aid Agency In March, a month and a half following a key American development organization is suspended, causing international chaos, a leading figure in the administration announces that over eighty percent of the body's projects will be terminated. American foreign service officers, former presidents and humanitarian and health experts condemn the news, warning that fatalities will ensue. 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 women and girls will be disproportionately affected by reduced funding, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, statistics reveal how a tremendous loss of life has already occurred from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with millions more to come. Another pair of leading funders announce their own austerity measures. A head of a worldwide campaign network says a choice to reduce international development funding is a gesture of alignment with another government's agenda. Faith-Based Activists Mobilize at UN Conference In March, several conservative religious groups meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a biannual gathering held in parallel with the annual UN Women gathering. It is an forum to discuss methods on how to oppose what they term a UN overreach. They are in high spirits as they applaud new Washington directives on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the world's top diplomat opens the gender equality forum with a stark warning that “the venom of male dominance” is resurgent, after a report shows that groups opposing progressive rights are systematically eroding historic agreements on fundamental freedoms for women around the world. African ‘Family Values’ Conferences Over the summer, a cluster of meetings in Africa focused on the conventional household and state autonomy sparks alarm among human rights defenders. In May, a national leader and spouse open a significant conference to resist what they label external influences undermining local norms. A few days later, another regional summit on traditional morals is held. Both events are graced by leading Western campaigners against gender ideology, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to push back against “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of global institutions. In the following month, a global faith group 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 expanded considerably. Contraceptive Destruction Order 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 destroy a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a warehouse in Europe. A leading family planning organization states that their destruction will deny countless females from contraceptive supplies, and lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The organization labels the plan an politically-motivated move “about exporting a regressive policy worldwide” and “a deliberate form of reproductive oppression”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “heartless and dangerous”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can be distributed to those in need, but the US declines every proposal. The situation remains at a standstill as host nation officials will not allow usable products to be destroyed. Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy Bringing back the anti-abortion funding ban, which prohibits Washington's support 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 policy was restored in January. 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 include DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) projects. Additional information regarding the broader enforcement are anticipated next year. A expert in child welfare says widening the scope will have “catastrophic impacts”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that fresh American assistance deals being discussed with African nations will become contingent upon adopting the new, wider policy.
A year ago, feminist advocacy groups were bracing themselves for a return of Donald Trump to office. Hardly anyone anticipated. The torrent and swiftness of administrative decrees coming out of the White House were seen as a deliberate tactic to induce a state of shock. The tactic proved effective – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as agencies hastened to compensate for the loss left by a abrupt cessation of financial support. But the situation was about to worsen. The Washington leadership has been the central catalyst, complemented by vigorous campaigning by deeply conservative factions seizing the opportunity to build worldwide connections with like-minded governments. This opposition to progressive rights denotes an international coalition of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that seek to undermine progress across a wide spectrum of issues. This covers access to termination, gay and trans protections, alternative households, and factual sexual instruction. They accomplish their goals by pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to promote fairness, circulating falsehoods, and resourcing aligned NGOs. We examine five instances that shaped the safety, dignity and lives of the female population. The Demise of a Major Aid Agency In March, a month and a half following a key American development organization is suspended, causing international chaos, a leading figure in the administration announces that over eighty percent of the body's projects will be terminated. American foreign service officers, former presidents and humanitarian and health experts condemn the news, warning that fatalities will ensue. 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 women and girls will be disproportionately affected by reduced funding, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, statistics reveal how a tremendous loss of life has already occurred from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with millions more to come. Another pair of leading funders announce their own austerity measures. A head of a worldwide campaign network says a choice to reduce international development funding is a gesture of alignment with another government's agenda. Faith-Based Activists Mobilize at UN Conference In March, several conservative religious groups meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a biannual gathering held in parallel with the annual UN Women gathering. It is an forum to discuss methods on how to oppose what they term a UN overreach. They are in high spirits as they applaud new Washington directives on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the world's top diplomat opens the gender equality forum with a stark warning that “the venom of male dominance” is resurgent, after a report shows that groups opposing progressive rights are systematically eroding historic agreements on fundamental freedoms for women around the world. African ‘Family Values’ Conferences Over the summer, a cluster of meetings in Africa focused on the conventional household and state autonomy sparks alarm among human rights defenders. In May, a national leader and spouse open a significant conference to resist what they label external influences undermining local norms. A few days later, another regional summit on traditional morals is held. Both events are graced by leading Western campaigners against gender ideology, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to push back against “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of global institutions. In the following month, a global faith group 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 expanded considerably. Contraceptive Destruction Order 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 destroy a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a warehouse in Europe. A leading family planning organization states that their destruction will deny countless females from contraceptive supplies, and lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The organization labels the plan an politically-motivated move “about exporting a regressive policy worldwide” and “a deliberate form of reproductive oppression”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “heartless and dangerous”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can be distributed to those in need, but the US declines every proposal. The situation remains at a standstill as host nation officials will not allow usable products to be destroyed. Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy Bringing back the anti-abortion funding ban, which prohibits Washington's support 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 policy was restored in January. 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 include DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) projects. Additional information regarding the broader enforcement are anticipated next year. A expert in child welfare says widening the scope will have “catastrophic impacts”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that fresh American assistance deals being discussed with African nations will become contingent upon adopting the new, wider policy.