Five Major Landmark Occurrences in the Assault on the Rights of Women and Girls in the Past Year.

This time last year, groups dedicated to gender equality were bracing themselves for a Trump presidency sequel. Few were prepared for. The sheer number and rapid pace of White House mandates issued from the White House were viewed as a intentional maneuver to paralyze through overload. This strategy had its intended impact – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as agencies hastened to fill the gap left by a abrupt cessation of financial support. But the situation was about to worsen.

The Trump administration has been the key driver, bolstered by fervent lobbying efforts by deeply conservative factions seizing the opportunity to solidify transnational relationships with ideological partners.

The anti-rights movement refers to a global network of political leaders, religious institutions, civil society groups as well as affluent financiers and clans that strive to weaken gains in a variety of areas. This covers pro-choice policies, equality for sexual minorities, gender identity recognition, and inclusive relationship teaching.

They do this by pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to promote fairness, circulating falsehoods, and resourcing aligned NGOs.

We look at five instances that affected the safety, dignity and lives of the female population.

USAID Dismantled

In early spring, shortly after a key American development organization is its funds are blocked, causing widespread distress, a leading figure in the administration states that nearly all of the agency’s programmes will be eliminated. Career diplomats, former presidents and aid and medical specialists criticize the move, predicting that people will die as a result. Human rights advocates say that the dismantling of this institution is greater than a budgetary issue, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and birth control and maternal healthcare. Many organisations say the impact on girls and women will be severe by diminishing aid, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, reports confirm 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. Two other major donor nations initiate similar reductions. A leader of an international advocacy group says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is an attempt to placate a powerful partner.

Faith-Based Activists Mobilize at UN Conference

In the same month, several faith-based advocacy networks meet in an luxury Manhattan venue for a strategic summit held alongside the UN's flagship gender equality meeting. It is an opportunity to share tactics 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 UN secretary general opens the women’s summit with a somber alert that “the toxin of gendered hierarchy” is back, after a report shows that anti-rights actors are deliberately weakening historic agreements on core aspects of gender equality 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 equality campaigners. In the start of May, a head of state and partner open a significant conference to push back on what they label external influences undermining local norms. A few days later, another continental gathering on family values is held. Both events are participated in by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker calls on African NGOs to stand up to “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of global institutions. In June, a prominent church hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in West Africa, an event that health activists say has become a forum for opposing queer and trans rights. Campaigners note that the scale of their presence has increased markedly.

Contraceptive Destruction Order

As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are running out of contraceptives, including emergency kits for survivors of sexual violence, 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 hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. 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 “heartless and dangerous”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US declines every proposal. The situation remains at a standstill as local authorities are blocking the destruction of viable medicines.

Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy

Bringing back the anti-abortion funding ban, which cuts American funding for groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is commonplace under certain US administrations. It came as no surprise when the rule was reinstated in January. The administration also reaffirmed membership in a pro-life declaration. But in October, the US announces it intends to extend the restrictions to include governments and multilateral organisations in addition to NGOs, and to cover diversity programmes. Additional information regarding the policy's widened application are likely forthcoming. A director of a major health partnership 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 contingent upon adopting the new, wider policy.