🔗 Share this article A Quintet of Significant Developments in the Rollback of the Freedoms of Women and Girls in the Year 2025. In the previous year, groups dedicated to gender equality were steeling themselves against a new Trump administration. The ensuing chaos was largely unforeseen. The sheer number and rapid pace of executive orders originating in the White House were regarded as a calculated strategy to overwhelm and create panic. To a large extent, it succeeded – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as networks struggled to plug the hole left by a major funding freeze. But the situation was about to worsen. The Washington leadership has been the key driver, bolstered by relentless activism by ultra-conservative groups using the moment to build worldwide connections with ideological partners. This opposition to progressive rights signifies a transnational grouping of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as wealthy philanthropists and dynasties that seek to undermine advances on numerous fronts. This covers reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed. They accomplish their goals by lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to advance equality, spreading disinformation, and funding non-profit organisations. We analyze five episodes that impacted the welfare, autonomy, and survival of women and girls. USAID Effectively Dismantled In March, shortly after a key American development organization is halted, causing international chaos, a top American diplomat announces that nearly all of the institution's work will be scrapped. US diplomats, ex-presidents and humanitarian and health experts denounce the action, predicting that fatalities will ensue. Activists say that the dismantling of this institution is greater than a budgetary issue, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and access to contraception and reproductive health services. A multitude of agencies say the impact on girls and women will be severe by waning support, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, evidence indicates how a tremendous loss of life has already occurred from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Two other major donor nations follow with their own cuts. A head of a worldwide campaign network says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is a move to appease a political ally. Conservative Religious Groups Lobby at UN Women Meeting In the same month, several Christian-right organisations meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a strategic summit 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 gender, diversity and abortion. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the women’s summit with a grave caution that “the venom of male dominance” is returning, after a report shows that opponents of gender equality are deliberately weakening established norms on key women’s rights issues around the world. African ‘Family Values’ Conferences Over the summer, a series of conferences in Africa focused on the traditional family and national sovereignty sparks alarm among rights advocates. In May, a national leader and spouse open a major forum to push back on what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A few days later, another Pan-African conference on traditional morals is held. Both events are participated in by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to resist “radical global social engineering” of global institutions. In June, a major religious institution hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in the region, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Campaigners note that the extent of foreign involvement has expanded considerably. 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 significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a storage facility in Belgium. A leading family planning organization states that their destruction will deny a huge female population from family planning options, and lead to a public health crisis of unwanted pregnancies. The organization labels the plan an ideological decision “about exporting a regressive policy worldwide” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A international emergency medical charity calls it “callous and reckless”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains at a standstill as local authorities will not allow usable products to be destroyed. Broader Restrictions on Aid Reviving the global gag rule, which halts US aid to groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is typical of certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the rule was reinstated in January. The administration also signed onto a conservative consensus document. But in October, the US announces it intends to broaden the scope of the policy to include sovereign states and UN agencies in addition to NGOs, and to encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. Additional information regarding the expansion of the rule are expected in early 2026. A leader in global maternal health says widening the scope will have “devastating consequences”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that fresh American assistance deals being negotiated with countries in Africa will become dependent on agreeing to the new, wider policy.
In the previous year, groups dedicated to gender equality were steeling themselves against a new Trump administration. The ensuing chaos was largely unforeseen. The sheer number and rapid pace of executive orders originating in the White House were regarded as a calculated strategy to overwhelm and create panic. To a large extent, it succeeded – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as networks struggled to plug the hole left by a major funding freeze. But the situation was about to worsen. The Washington leadership has been the key driver, bolstered by relentless activism by ultra-conservative groups using the moment to build worldwide connections with ideological partners. This opposition to progressive rights signifies a transnational grouping of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as wealthy philanthropists and dynasties that seek to undermine advances on numerous fronts. This covers reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed. They accomplish their goals by lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to advance equality, spreading disinformation, and funding non-profit organisations. We analyze five episodes that impacted the welfare, autonomy, and survival of women and girls. USAID Effectively Dismantled In March, shortly after a key American development organization is halted, causing international chaos, a top American diplomat announces that nearly all of the institution's work will be scrapped. US diplomats, ex-presidents and humanitarian and health experts denounce the action, predicting that fatalities will ensue. Activists say that the dismantling of this institution is greater than a budgetary issue, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and access to contraception and reproductive health services. A multitude of agencies say the impact on girls and women will be severe by waning support, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, evidence indicates how a tremendous loss of life has already occurred from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Two other major donor nations follow with their own cuts. A head of a worldwide campaign network says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is a move to appease a political ally. Conservative Religious Groups Lobby at UN Women Meeting In the same month, several Christian-right organisations meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a strategic summit 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 gender, diversity and abortion. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the women’s summit with a grave caution that “the venom of male dominance” is returning, after a report shows that opponents of gender equality are deliberately weakening established norms on key women’s rights issues around the world. African ‘Family Values’ Conferences Over the summer, a series of conferences in Africa focused on the traditional family and national sovereignty sparks alarm among rights advocates. In May, a national leader and spouse open a major forum to push back on what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A few days later, another Pan-African conference on traditional morals is held. Both events are participated in by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to resist “radical global social engineering” of global institutions. In June, a major religious institution hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in the region, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Campaigners note that the extent of foreign involvement has expanded considerably. 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 significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a storage facility in Belgium. A leading family planning organization states that their destruction will deny a huge female population from family planning options, and lead to a public health crisis of unwanted pregnancies. The organization labels the plan an ideological decision “about exporting a regressive policy worldwide” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A international emergency medical charity calls it “callous and reckless”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains at a standstill as local authorities will not allow usable products to be destroyed. Broader Restrictions on Aid Reviving the global gag rule, which halts US aid to groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is typical of certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the rule was reinstated in January. The administration also signed onto a conservative consensus document. But in October, the US announces it intends to broaden the scope of the policy to include sovereign states and UN agencies in addition to NGOs, and to encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. Additional information regarding the expansion of the rule are expected in early 2026. A leader in global maternal health says widening the scope will have “devastating consequences”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that fresh American assistance deals being negotiated with countries in Africa will become dependent on agreeing to the new, wider policy.