Five Landmark Occurrences in the Rollback of the Freedoms of Women and Girls in 2025.
This time last year, organisations advocating for women's rights were bracing themselves for a Trump presidency sequel. Scarcely anyone expected. The flood and velocity of White House mandates issued from the White House were viewed as a intentional maneuver to cause confusion and fear. The tactic proved effective – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as groups rushed to plug the hole left by a sudden aid suspension. But that was just the beginning.
The US administration has been the main instigator, bolstered by vigorous campaigning by far-right organisations seizing the opportunity to forge international alliances with sympathetic regimes.
The movement against gender equality refers to a global network of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that strive to weaken advances on numerous fronts. These include pro-choice policies, equality for sexual minorities, gender identity recognition, and inclusive relationship teaching.
They achieve this through pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups.
We analyze five moments that influenced the safety, dignity and lives of the female population.
USAID Dismantled
In the month of March, six weeks after a key American development organization is halted, causing widespread distress, a top American diplomat reveals that a vast majority of the institution's work will be scrapped. US diplomats, past leaders and humanitarian and health experts criticize the move, predicting that lives will be lost. Activists say that the dismantling of this institution is more than a funding crisis, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and birth control and maternal healthcare. Many organisations say females will bear the brunt by reduced funding, especially in war zones. As the year ends, reports confirm how a significant mortality toll has been exacted from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with millions more to come. Two other major donor nations initiate similar reductions. A leader of an international advocacy group says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is an attempt to placate a powerful partner.
Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit
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 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 LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the global conference with a somber alert that “the toxin of gendered hierarchy” is resurgent, after a analysis demonstrates that opponents of gender equality are actively undermining longstanding consensus 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 human rights defenders. In May, a head of state and partner open a major forum to resist what they label external influences undermining local norms. A shortly thereafter, another Pan-African conference on traditional morals 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 global institutions. In the following month, a major religious institution hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in West Africa, an event that health activists say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Advocates remark that the extent of foreign involvement has grown significantly.
American Plan to Burn Birth Control
As health facilities across Africa report they are facing shortages of birth control, 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 warehouse in Europe. A major reproductive health federation states that their incineration will prevent millions of women and girls from contraceptive supplies, and lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The organization labels the plan an politically-motivated move “about forcing a conservative worldview globally” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A international emergency medical charity calls it “cruel and irresponsible”. Charities attempt to acquire the contraceptives so they can be distributed to those in need, but the US declines every proposal. The situation remains at a standstill as local authorities are blocking usable products to be destroyed.
Broader Restrictions on Aid
Reviving the global gag rule, which prohibits Washington's support for groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is standard practice for certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the ban was reimposed in the first month of the year. The administration also rejoined an international anti-abortion agreement. But in the autumn, the US announces it intends to broaden the scope of the policy 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”. Pro-choice activists fear that new US aid packages being arranged with states on the continent will become contingent upon adopting the new, wider policy.
