Five Critical Significant Developments in the Erosion of the Freedoms of Women and Girls in the Past Year.
Twelve months prior, organisations advocating for women's rights were preparing for a return of Donald Trump to office. Few were prepared for. The flood and velocity of administrative decrees originating in the White House were viewed as a deliberate tactic to induce a state of shock. To a large extent, it succeeded – there was disarray, outrage, and weariness as organisations scrambled to address the shortfall left by a freeze on international development funds. But this was only the precursor.
The Washington leadership has been the primary force, supported by intense advocacy work by deeply conservative factions seizing the opportunity to build worldwide connections with political allies.
The movement against gender equality denotes an international coalition of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as wealthy philanthropists and dynasties that seek to undermine progress across a wide spectrum of issues. Areas targeted involve reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed.
They accomplish their goals by pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to foster equity, propagating misinformation, and bankrolling sympathetic charities.
We look at five junctures that impacted the security, respect, and well-being of females globally.
USAID Dismantled
In the month of March, six weeks after a key American development organization is frozen, causing turmoil around the world, a top American diplomat reveals that nearly all of the organization's initiatives will be axed. US diplomats, past leaders and humanitarian and health experts criticize the move, predicting that lives will be lost. Activists say that the closure of the organization is more than a funding crisis, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and family planning and reproductive care. Numerous groups say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by reduced funding, 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 many more millions at risk. Two other major donor nations proceed with parallel slashes. A leader of an international advocacy group says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is a gesture of alignment with another government's agenda.
Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit
In March, several faith-based advocacy networks meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a strategic summit held in parallel with the annual UN Women gathering. It is an chance to exchange strategies on how to oppose what they term a UN overreach. They are in optimistic frame of mind as they welcome new Washington directives on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the women’s summit with a grave caution that “the poison of patriarchy” is back, after a report shows that opponents of gender equality are actively undermining longstanding consensus on key women’s rights issues around the world.
African ‘Family Values’ Conferences
Over the summer, a cluster of meetings in Africa themed around the conservative family structures and national independence sparks alarm among equality campaigners. In the start of May, a head of state and partner open a major forum to push back on what they label external influences undermining local norms. A soon after, another Pan-African conference on conservative ethics is held. Both events are participated in by leading Western campaigners against gender ideology, including heads of influential networks. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to push back against “radical global social engineering” of multilateral bodies. In June, a global faith group hosts a family strengthening conference in the region, an event that health activists say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Activists observe that the extent of foreign involvement has grown significantly.
US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives
As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are facing shortages of birth control, including prophylaxis for assault victims, the US announces in midsummer plans to incinerate a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a warehouse in Europe. A global sexual health network states that their incineration will prevent a huge female population from family planning options, and lead to a public health crisis of unwanted pregnancies. The organization labels the plan an ideological decision “about exporting a regressive policy worldwide” and “a deliberate form of reproductive oppression”. A international emergency medical charity calls it “cruel and irresponsible”. Charities attempt to acquire the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US declines every proposal. The situation remains at a standstill as host nation officials refuse to permit perfectly good supplies to be incinerated.
‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded
Reinstating the Mexico City Policy, which halts US aid to groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is commonplace under certain US administrations. It came as no surprise when the ban was reimposed in January. The administration also signed onto a conservative consensus document. But in October, the US announces it intends to extend the restrictions to include national governments and international bodies in addition to NGOs, and to include DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) projects. Additional information regarding the broader enforcement are anticipated next year. A director of a major health partnership says extending the reach will have “unimaginable effects”. Pro-choice activists fear that new US aid packages being negotiated with countries in Africa will become contingent upon adopting the new, wider policy.
