đ Share this article A Quintet of Landmark Occurrences in the Erosion of the Freedoms of Women and Girls in 2025. This time last year, groups dedicated to gender equality were preparing for a second Trump term. Hardly anyone anticipated. The torrent and swiftness of presidential directives emanating from the White House were viewed as a deliberate tactic to overwhelm and create panic. To a large extent, it succeeded â there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as organisations scrambled to address the shortfall left by a major funding freeze. But that was just the beginning. The American government has been the primary force, aided by relentless activism by far-right organisations using the moment to strengthen global ties with sympathetic regimes. This opposition to progressive rights signifies a transnational grouping of government figures, churches, and advocacy collectives as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that aim to roll back gains in a variety of areas. Areas targeted involve reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed. They accomplish their goals by advocating to officials, financing legal challenges, sabotaging multilateral work to foster equity, propagating misinformation, and bankrolling sympathetic charities. We analyze five episodes that impacted the protection, honor, and existence of girls and women. USAID Effectively Dismantled In early spring, a month and a half following a key American development organization is frozen, causing international chaos, a leading figure in the administration states that the lion's share of the institution's work will be scrapped. American foreign service officers, ex-presidents and aid and medical specialists denounce the action, stating that people will die as a result. Rights defenders say that the closure of the organization is more than a funding crisis, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and access to contraception and reproductive health services. A multitude of agencies say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by reduced funding, especially in war zones. As the year ends, reports confirm how a significant mortality toll has been exacted from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with many more millions at risk. Two other major donor nations initiate similar reductions. A leader of an international advocacy group says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is a move to appease a political ally. Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit In the same month, several faith-based advocacy networks meet in an upmarket New York hotel 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 UNâs âradical agendaâ. They are in buoyant mood as they celebrate changes in American foreign policy on gender, diversity and abortion. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the global conference with a somber alert that âthe poison of patriarchyâ is back, after a study indicates that groups opposing progressive rights are deliberately weakening longstanding consensus on fundamental freedoms for women around the world. Summits Promoting Conservative Norms Over the warmer months, a cluster of meetings in Africa focused on the conventional household and state autonomy raises concerns among rights advocates. In the start of May, a national leader and spouse open a significant conference to combat 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 participated in by leading American and European conservative activists, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to push back against âradical global social engineeringâ of multilateral bodies. In the following month, a major religious institution hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in an African nation, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Advocates remark that the extent of foreign involvement has grown significantly. US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives As health facilities across Africa report they are depleting their stocks of family planning supplies, including prophylaxis for assault victims, the US announces in July plans to dispose of millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a warehouse in Europe. A major reproductive health federation states that their elimination will deprive millions of women and girls from access to birth control, and lead to a public health crisis of unwanted pregnancies. The organization labels the plan an politically-motivated move âabout exporting a regressive policy worldwideâ and âa deliberate form of reproductive oppressionâ. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it âheartless and dangerousâ. NGOs offer to buy 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 usable products to be destroyed. Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy 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 anticipated when the rule was reinstated in the first month of the year. The administration also reaffirmed membership in a pro-life declaration. But in the autumn, the US announces it intends to extend the restrictions to include governments and multilateral organisations in addition to NGOs, and to include DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) projects. More details on the broader enforcement are expected in early 2026. A leader in global maternal health says widening the scope will have âdevastating consequencesâ. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that new US aid packages being negotiated with countries in Africa will become dependent on agreeing to the expanded global gag.
This time last year, groups dedicated to gender equality were preparing for a second Trump term. Hardly anyone anticipated. The torrent and swiftness of presidential directives emanating from the White House were viewed as a deliberate tactic to overwhelm and create panic. To a large extent, it succeeded â there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as organisations scrambled to address the shortfall left by a major funding freeze. But that was just the beginning. The American government has been the primary force, aided by relentless activism by far-right organisations using the moment to strengthen global ties with sympathetic regimes. This opposition to progressive rights signifies a transnational grouping of government figures, churches, and advocacy collectives as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that aim to roll back gains in a variety of areas. Areas targeted involve reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed. They accomplish their goals by advocating to officials, financing legal challenges, sabotaging multilateral work to foster equity, propagating misinformation, and bankrolling sympathetic charities. We analyze five episodes that impacted the protection, honor, and existence of girls and women. USAID Effectively Dismantled In early spring, a month and a half following a key American development organization is frozen, causing international chaos, a leading figure in the administration states that the lion's share of the institution's work will be scrapped. American foreign service officers, ex-presidents and aid and medical specialists denounce the action, stating that people will die as a result. Rights defenders say that the closure of the organization is more than a funding crisis, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and access to contraception and reproductive health services. A multitude of agencies say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by reduced funding, especially in war zones. As the year ends, reports confirm how a significant mortality toll has been exacted from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with many more millions at risk. Two other major donor nations initiate similar reductions. A leader of an international advocacy group says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is a move to appease a political ally. Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit In the same month, several faith-based advocacy networks meet in an upmarket New York hotel 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 UNâs âradical agendaâ. They are in buoyant mood as they celebrate changes in American foreign policy on gender, diversity and abortion. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the global conference with a somber alert that âthe poison of patriarchyâ is back, after a study indicates that groups opposing progressive rights are deliberately weakening longstanding consensus on fundamental freedoms for women around the world. Summits Promoting Conservative Norms Over the warmer months, a cluster of meetings in Africa focused on the conventional household and state autonomy raises concerns among rights advocates. In the start of May, a national leader and spouse open a significant conference to combat 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 participated in by leading American and European conservative activists, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to push back against âradical global social engineeringâ of multilateral bodies. In the following month, a major religious institution hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in an African nation, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Advocates remark that the extent of foreign involvement has grown significantly. US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives As health facilities across Africa report they are depleting their stocks of family planning supplies, including prophylaxis for assault victims, the US announces in July plans to dispose of millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a warehouse in Europe. A major reproductive health federation states that their elimination will deprive millions of women and girls from access to birth control, and lead to a public health crisis of unwanted pregnancies. The organization labels the plan an politically-motivated move âabout exporting a regressive policy worldwideâ and âa deliberate form of reproductive oppressionâ. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it âheartless and dangerousâ. NGOs offer to buy 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 usable products to be destroyed. Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy 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 anticipated when the rule was reinstated in the first month of the year. The administration also reaffirmed membership in a pro-life declaration. But in the autumn, the US announces it intends to extend the restrictions to include governments and multilateral organisations in addition to NGOs, and to include DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) projects. More details on the broader enforcement are expected in early 2026. A leader in global maternal health says widening the scope will have âdevastating consequencesâ. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that new US aid packages being negotiated with countries in Africa will become dependent on agreeing to the expanded global gag.