🔗 Share this article Five Major Landmark Occurrences in the Assault on the Freedoms of Women and Girls in This Past Year. This time last year, feminist advocacy groups were steeling themselves against a Trump presidency sequel. Hardly anyone anticipated. The sheer number and rapid pace of executive orders emanating from the White House were regarded as a calculated strategy to induce a state of shock. This strategy had its intended impact – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as organisations scrambled to fill the gap left by a major funding freeze. But this was only the precursor. The Trump administration has been the primary force, complemented by relentless activism by religious fundamentalist networks seizing the opportunity to forge international alliances with ideological partners. This opposition to progressive rights refers to a global network of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that work to dismantle forward movement on multiple topics. These include reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed. They achieve this through pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to foster equity, propagating misinformation, and bankrolling sympathetic charities. We analyze five episodes that shaped the protection, honor, and existence of women and girls. USAID Dismantled In the month of March, a month and a half following a prominent humanitarian funder is its funds are blocked, causing turmoil around the world, a senior US official announces that over eighty percent of the body's projects will be terminated. Career diplomats, past leaders and humanitarian and health experts condemn the news, predicting that mortality will increase. 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 shrinking assistance, especially in war zones. As the year ends, statistics reveal 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. Another pair of leading funders announce their own austerity measures. A head of a worldwide campaign network says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is a move to appease a political ally. Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit In the same month, several conservative religious groups meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a biannual gathering held alongside 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 optimistic frame of mind as they applaud shifts in US policy on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the gender equality forum with a somber alert that “the poison of patriarchy” is back, after a report shows that anti-rights actors are systematically eroding historic agreements on core aspects of gender equality around the world. Summits Promoting Conservative Norms Over the summer, a sequence of gatherings in Africa centered on the conservative family structures and national independence raises concerns among rights advocates. In early May, a national leader and spouse open a significant conference to resist what they label external influences undermining local norms. A soon after, 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 push back against “international liberal agenda” of global institutions. In June, a global faith group hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in an African nation, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become a forum for opposing queer and trans rights. Activists observe that the level of external participation has expanded considerably. Contraceptive Destruction Order As health facilities across 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 significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a European depot. A global sexual health network states that their destruction will deny a huge female population from contraceptive supplies, and lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The organization labels the plan an dogmatic choice “about forcing a conservative worldview globally” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “callous and reckless”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US declines every proposal. The situation remains at a standstill as host nation officials are blocking usable products to be destroyed. Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy 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 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 expected in early 2026. A expert in child welfare says widening the scope will have “devastating consequences”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that fresh American assistance deals being negotiated with countries in Africa will become contingent upon adopting the new, wider policy.
This time last year, feminist advocacy groups were steeling themselves against a Trump presidency sequel. Hardly anyone anticipated. The sheer number and rapid pace of executive orders emanating from the White House were regarded as a calculated strategy to induce a state of shock. This strategy had its intended impact – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as organisations scrambled to fill the gap left by a major funding freeze. But this was only the precursor. The Trump administration has been the primary force, complemented by relentless activism by religious fundamentalist networks seizing the opportunity to forge international alliances with ideological partners. This opposition to progressive rights refers to a global network of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that work to dismantle forward movement on multiple topics. These include reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed. They achieve this through pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to foster equity, propagating misinformation, and bankrolling sympathetic charities. We analyze five episodes that shaped the protection, honor, and existence of women and girls. USAID Dismantled In the month of March, a month and a half following a prominent humanitarian funder is its funds are blocked, causing turmoil around the world, a senior US official announces that over eighty percent of the body's projects will be terminated. Career diplomats, past leaders and humanitarian and health experts condemn the news, predicting that mortality will increase. 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 shrinking assistance, especially in war zones. As the year ends, statistics reveal 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. Another pair of leading funders announce their own austerity measures. A head of a worldwide campaign network says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is a move to appease a political ally. Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit In the same month, several conservative religious groups meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a biannual gathering held alongside 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 optimistic frame of mind as they applaud shifts in US policy on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the gender equality forum with a somber alert that “the poison of patriarchy” is back, after a report shows that anti-rights actors are systematically eroding historic agreements on core aspects of gender equality around the world. Summits Promoting Conservative Norms Over the summer, a sequence of gatherings in Africa centered on the conservative family structures and national independence raises concerns among rights advocates. In early May, a national leader and spouse open a significant conference to resist what they label external influences undermining local norms. A soon after, 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 push back against “international liberal agenda” of global institutions. In June, a global faith group hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in an African nation, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become a forum for opposing queer and trans rights. Activists observe that the level of external participation has expanded considerably. Contraceptive Destruction Order As health facilities across 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 significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a European depot. A global sexual health network states that their destruction will deny a huge female population from contraceptive supplies, and lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The organization labels the plan an dogmatic choice “about forcing a conservative worldview globally” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “callous and reckless”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US declines every proposal. The situation remains at a standstill as host nation officials are blocking usable products to be destroyed. Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy 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 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 expected in early 2026. A expert in child welfare says widening the scope will have “devastating consequences”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that fresh American assistance deals being negotiated with countries in Africa will become contingent upon adopting the new, wider policy.