A Quintet of Significant Developments in the Attack on the Freedoms of Women and Girls in the Past Year.

Twelve months prior, groups dedicated to gender equality were preparing for a return of Donald Trump to office. Few were prepared for. The sheer number and rapid pace of White House mandates emanating from the White House were interpreted as a intentional maneuver to overwhelm and create panic. To a large extent, it succeeded – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as organisations scrambled to fill the gap left by a abrupt cessation of financial support. But this merely marked the opening act.

The American government has been the primary force, supported by fervent lobbying efforts by deeply conservative factions seizing the opportunity to strengthen global ties with ideological partners.

The movement against gender equality describes a worldwide alliance of government figures, churches, and advocacy collectives as well as affluent financiers and clans that strive to weaken advances on numerous fronts. These include abortion, LGBTQ rights, trans rights, non-traditional family structures and comprehensive sexuality education.

They pursue this agenda via lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to foster equity, propagating misinformation, and bankrolling sympathetic charities.

We review five moments that influenced the welfare, autonomy, and survival of the female population.

The Dismantling of USAID

In early spring, shortly after a prominent humanitarian funder is its funds are blocked, causing international chaos, a leading figure in the administration confirms that nearly all of the organization's initiatives will be axed. Career diplomats, former presidents and relief and public health authorities condemn the news, stating that mortality will increase. Rights defenders say that the closure of the organization is more than a funding crisis, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and birth control and maternal healthcare. Numerous groups say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by shrinking assistance, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, evidence indicates how a significant mortality toll has been exacted from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Additional key contributing countries initiate similar reductions. A head of a worldwide campaign network says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is an attempt to placate a powerful partner.

Faith-Based Activists Mobilize at UN Conference

In March, several faith-based advocacy networks meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a strategic summit held alongside the annual UN Women gathering. It is an chance to exchange strategies 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 women’s summit with a grave caution that “the venom of male dominance” is back, after a analysis demonstrates that groups opposing progressive rights are actively undermining historic agreements on core aspects of gender equality around the world.

African ‘Family Values’ Conferences

Over the summer, a sequence of gatherings in Africa themed around the conservative family structures and national independence triggers anxiety among human rights defenders. In early May, a president and first lady open a large assembly to resist what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A soon after, another regional summit on conservative ethics is held. Both events are attended by leading Western campaigners against gender ideology, including heads of influential networks. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to push back against “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of international organizations. In June, a major religious institution hosts a family strengthening conference in West Africa, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become a forum for opposing queer and trans rights. Advocates remark that the extent of foreign involvement has increased markedly.

US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives

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 July plans to incinerate a vast stockpile of birth control held in a European depot. A global sexual health network states that their incineration will prevent millions of women and girls from contraceptive supplies, and lead to a public health crisis of unwanted pregnancies. 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 “callous and reckless”. Charities attempt to acquire the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains unresolved as local authorities refuse to permit the destruction of viable medicines.

‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded

Reviving the global gag rule, which cuts American funding for groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is commonplace under certain US administrations. It was widely expected when the rule was reinstated in the first month of the year. The administration also signed onto a conservative consensus document. But in the autumn, 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 policy's widened application are expected in early 2026. A director of a major health partnership 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 expanded global gag.