A Quintet of Crucial Incidents in the Erosion of the Rights of Females in the Past Year.
Twelve months prior, groups dedicated to gender equality were bracing themselves for a second Trump term. The ensuing chaos was largely unforeseen. The torrent and swiftness of administrative decrees coming out of the White House were seen as a intentional maneuver to induce a state of shock. This strategy had its intended impact – there was bewilderment, fury, and fatigue as groups rushed to fill the gap left by a abrupt cessation of financial support. But this was only the precursor.
The US administration has been the main instigator, aided by fervent lobbying efforts by deeply conservative factions using the moment to solidify transnational relationships with sympathetic regimes.
Often termed the anti-gender movement denotes an international coalition of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as wealthy philanthropists and dynasties that strive to weaken advances on numerous fronts. This covers abortion, LGBTQ rights, trans rights, non-traditional family structures and comprehensive sexuality education.
They do this by lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to advance equality, spreading disinformation, and funding non-profit organisations.
We review five episodes that affected the welfare, autonomy, and survival of girls and women.
The Demise of a Major Aid Agency
In March, a month and a half following a key American development organization is suspended, causing turmoil around the world, a top American diplomat states that a vast majority of the institution's work will be scrapped. American foreign service officers, former presidents and aid and medical specialists condemn the news, predicting that mortality will increase. Human rights advocates say that the demise of the agency is more than a funding crisis, it is a savage attack on human rights and access to contraception and reproductive health services. Many organisations say the impact on girls and women will be severe by waning support, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, reports confirm 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. Another pair of leading funders 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.
Faith-Based Activists Mobilize at UN Conference
In March, several conservative religious groups meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a two-day conference held in parallel with the international conference on women's rights. It is an forum to discuss methods on how to defeat the UN’s “radical agenda”. They are in high spirits as they celebrate shifts in US policy on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the gender equality forum with a somber alert that “the poison of patriarchy” is returning, after a analysis demonstrates that groups opposing progressive rights are deliberately weakening longstanding consensus on core aspects of gender equality around the world.
African ‘Family Values’ Conferences
Over the summer, a series of conferences in Africa centered on the conservative family structures and national independence sparks alarm among rights advocates. In early May, a head of state and partner open a large assembly to resist what they label criminal foreign forces eroding traditional family values. A shortly thereafter, another Pan-African conference on traditional morals is held. Both events are attended by leading Western campaigners against gender ideology, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker urges African NGOs to stand up to “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of multilateral bodies. In June, a global faith group hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in West Africa, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Activists observe that the level of external participation has grown significantly.
US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives
As health facilities across Africa report they are depleting their stocks of family planning supplies, including emergency kits for survivors of sexual violence, the US announces in July plans to destroy a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a storage facility in Belgium. A global sexual health network states that their elimination will deprive millions of women and girls from contraceptive supplies, and lead to a surge in unplanned pregnancies and dangerous terminations. The organization labels the plan an politically-motivated move “about forcing a conservative worldview globally” and “an intentional act of reproductive coercion”. A international emergency medical charity calls it “heartless and dangerous”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains unresolved as host nation officials will not allow the destruction of viable medicines.
Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy
Reviving the global gag rule, which halts US aid to groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is standard practice for certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the rule was reinstated in the first month of the year. The administration also rejoined an international anti-abortion agreement. 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 encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. Further specifics about the policy's widened application are likely forthcoming. A director of a major health partnership says extending the reach will have “unimaginable effects”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being discussed with African nations will become contingent upon adopting the broadened restrictions.
