🔗 Share this article Five Landmark Occurrences in the Erosion of the Freedoms of Women and Girls in This Past Year. A year ago, feminist advocacy groups were bracing themselves for a return of Donald Trump to office. The ensuing chaos was largely unforeseen. The torrent and swiftness of White House mandates coming out of the White House were regarded as a deliberate tactic to induce a state of shock. In many ways it worked – there was bewilderment, fury, and fatigue as networks struggled to plug the hole left by a freeze on international development funds. But this was only the precursor. The US administration has been the main instigator, supported by intense advocacy work by deeply conservative factions exploiting the situation to build worldwide connections with political allies. This opposition to progressive rights describes a worldwide alliance of political leaders, religious institutions, civil society groups as well as affluent financiers and clans that strive to weaken forward movement on multiple topics. This encompasses access to termination, gay and trans protections, alternative households, and factual sexual instruction. They achieve this through pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups. We review five moments that influenced the security, respect, and well-being of girls and women. The Dismantling of USAID In early spring, shortly after a prominent humanitarian funder is frozen, causing turmoil around the world, a senior US official reveals that the lion's share of the body's projects will be terminated. Career diplomats, ex-presidents and aid and medical specialists denounce the action, predicting that people will die as a result. Human rights advocates say that the closure of the organization is more than a funding crisis, it is a savage attack on human rights and family planning and reproductive care. A multitude of agencies say females will bear the brunt by diminishing aid, especially in regions of instability. As the year ends, statistics reveal how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Additional key contributing countries announce their own austerity measures. 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 March, several Christian-right organisations meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a strategic summit held alongside the UN's flagship gender equality meeting. It is an forum to discuss methods on how to defeat the UN’s “radical agenda”. They are in high spirits as they applaud new Washington directives on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the global conference with a somber alert that “the poison of patriarchy” is resurgent, after a study indicates that groups opposing progressive rights are systematically eroding historic agreements on key women’s rights issues around the world. Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa Over the summer, a sequence of gatherings in Africa themed around the conventional household and state autonomy raises concerns among equality campaigners. In May, a president and first lady open a significant conference to combat what they label external influences undermining local norms. A few days later, another regional summit on conservative ethics is held. Both events are graced by leading American and European conservative activists, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker calls on African NGOs to stand up to “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of global institutions. In June, a global faith group hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in West Africa, an event that health activists say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Activists observe that the level of external participation has increased markedly. Contraceptive Destruction Order As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are facing shortages of birth control, including prophylaxis for assault victims, the US announces in midsummer plans to dispose of millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a European depot. A global sexual health network states that their elimination will deprive a huge female population from access to birth control, 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 “an intentional act of reproductive coercion”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “cruel and irresponsible”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains unresolved as the regional government are blocking the destruction of viable medicines. Broader Restrictions on Aid Reinstating the Mexico City Policy, which halts US aid to groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is standard practice for certain US administrations. It came as no surprise when the ban was reimposed in the first month of the year. The administration also reaffirmed membership in a pro-life declaration. But in October, 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 expert in child welfare says broadening the policy will have “devastating consequences”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that new US aid packages being arranged with states on the continent will become conditional on accepting the broadened restrictions.
A year ago, feminist advocacy groups were bracing themselves for a return of Donald Trump to office. The ensuing chaos was largely unforeseen. The torrent and swiftness of White House mandates coming out of the White House were regarded as a deliberate tactic to induce a state of shock. In many ways it worked – there was bewilderment, fury, and fatigue as networks struggled to plug the hole left by a freeze on international development funds. But this was only the precursor. The US administration has been the main instigator, supported by intense advocacy work by deeply conservative factions exploiting the situation to build worldwide connections with political allies. This opposition to progressive rights describes a worldwide alliance of political leaders, religious institutions, civil society groups as well as affluent financiers and clans that strive to weaken forward movement on multiple topics. This encompasses access to termination, gay and trans protections, alternative households, and factual sexual instruction. They achieve this through pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups. We review five moments that influenced the security, respect, and well-being of girls and women. The Dismantling of USAID In early spring, shortly after a prominent humanitarian funder is frozen, causing turmoil around the world, a senior US official reveals that the lion's share of the body's projects will be terminated. Career diplomats, ex-presidents and aid and medical specialists denounce the action, predicting that people will die as a result. Human rights advocates say that the closure of the organization is more than a funding crisis, it is a savage attack on human rights and family planning and reproductive care. A multitude of agencies say females will bear the brunt by diminishing aid, especially in regions of instability. As the year ends, statistics reveal how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Additional key contributing countries announce their own austerity measures. 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 March, several Christian-right organisations meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a strategic summit held alongside the UN's flagship gender equality meeting. It is an forum to discuss methods on how to defeat the UN’s “radical agenda”. They are in high spirits as they applaud new Washington directives on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the global conference with a somber alert that “the poison of patriarchy” is resurgent, after a study indicates that groups opposing progressive rights are systematically eroding historic agreements on key women’s rights issues around the world. Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa Over the summer, a sequence of gatherings in Africa themed around the conventional household and state autonomy raises concerns among equality campaigners. In May, a president and first lady open a significant conference to combat what they label external influences undermining local norms. A few days later, another regional summit on conservative ethics is held. Both events are graced by leading American and European conservative activists, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker calls on African NGOs to stand up to “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of global institutions. In June, a global faith group hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in West Africa, an event that health activists say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Activists observe that the level of external participation has increased markedly. Contraceptive Destruction Order As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are facing shortages of birth control, including prophylaxis for assault victims, the US announces in midsummer plans to dispose of millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a European depot. A global sexual health network states that their elimination will deprive a huge female population from access to birth control, 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 “an intentional act of reproductive coercion”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “cruel and irresponsible”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains unresolved as the regional government are blocking the destruction of viable medicines. Broader Restrictions on Aid Reinstating the Mexico City Policy, which halts US aid to groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is standard practice for certain US administrations. It came as no surprise when the ban was reimposed in the first month of the year. The administration also reaffirmed membership in a pro-life declaration. But in October, 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 expert in child welfare says broadening the policy will have “devastating consequences”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that new US aid packages being arranged with states on the continent will become conditional on accepting the broadened restrictions.