Five Crucial Incidents in the Assault on the Rights of Females in the Past Year.

This time last year, groups dedicated to gender equality were preparing for a new Trump administration. Scarcely anyone expected. The volume and speed of presidential directives issued from the White House were viewed as a deliberate tactic to induce a state of shock. This strategy had its intended impact – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as agencies hastened to fill the gap left by a freeze on international development funds. But the situation was about to worsen.

The American government has been the main instigator, bolstered by fervent lobbying efforts by far-right organisations seizing the opportunity to strengthen global ties with sympathetic regimes.

This opposition to progressive rights refers to a global network of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as billionaire families and individuals that strive to weaken forward movement on multiple topics. This covers access to termination, gay and trans protections, alternative households, and factual sexual instruction.

They achieve this through lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups.

We analyze five episodes that impacted the security, respect, and well-being of women and girls.

USAID Dismantled

In early spring, six weeks after a key American development organization is halted, causing turmoil around the world, a senior US official reveals that nearly all of the agency’s programmes will be eliminated. Career diplomats, former presidents and aid and medical specialists criticize the move, warning that lives will be lost. Human rights advocates say that the dismantling of this institution is greater than a budgetary issue, it is a savage attack on human rights and family planning and reproductive care. Numerous groups say the impact on girls and women will be severe by waning support, especially in war zones. As the year ends, evidence indicates how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Additional key contributing countries follow with their own cuts. A director of a global justice organization says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is an attempt to placate a powerful partner.

Conservative Religious Groups Lobby at UN Women Meeting

In March, several conservative religious groups meet in an luxury Manhattan venue for a two-day conference held concurrently 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 high spirits as they applaud shifts in US policy on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the global conference with a grave caution that “the venom of male dominance” is back, after a study indicates that anti-rights actors are systematically eroding longstanding consensus on key women’s rights issues around the world.

African ‘Family Values’ Conferences

Over the summer, a sequence of gatherings in Africa centered on the traditional family and national sovereignty sparks alarm among human rights defenders. In early May, a president and first lady open a large assembly to combat what they label external influences undermining local norms. A few days later, another continental gathering on traditional morals is held. Both events are graced by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker urges African NGOs to resist “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of international organizations. In June, a major religious institution hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in West Africa, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Campaigners note that the level of external participation has increased markedly.

Contraceptive Destruction Order

As medical centers in numerous African countries report they are facing shortages of birth control, including prophylaxis for assault victims, the US announces in July plans to incinerate a vast stockpile of birth control held in a European depot. A major reproductive health federation states that their destruction will deny a huge female population from contraceptive supplies, and lead to a surge in unplanned pregnancies and dangerous terminations. The organization labels the plan an dogmatic choice “about imposing an anti-rights agenda on the entire world” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A international emergency medical charity calls it “callous and reckless”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains at a standstill as host nation officials will not allow the destruction of viable medicines.

‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded

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 came as no surprise when the rule was reinstated in the first month of the year. The administration also reaffirmed membership in a pro-life declaration. But in the autumn, the US announces it intends to expand the global gag rule to include national governments and international bodies in addition to NGOs, and to encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. Additional information regarding the policy's widened application are likely forthcoming. A leader in global maternal health says broadening the policy will have “devastating consequences”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that fresh American assistance deals being discussed with African nations will become dependent on agreeing to the broadened restrictions.