A Quintet of Crucial Incidents in the Challenge to the Freedoms of Women and Girls in This Past Year.
In the previous year, groups dedicated to gender equality were preparing for a new Trump administration. Few were prepared for. The sheer number and rapid pace of executive orders coming out of the White House were viewed as a deliberate tactic to paralyze through overload. To a large extent, it succeeded – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as organisations scrambled to compensate for the loss left by a freeze on international development funds. But the situation was about to worsen.
The US administration has been the primary force, aided by intense advocacy work by far-right organisations capitalizing on the climate to strengthen global ties with ideological partners.
The anti-rights movement denotes an international coalition of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as wealthy philanthropists and dynasties that aim to roll back gains in a variety of areas. This covers access to termination, gay and trans protections, alternative households, and factual sexual instruction.
They do this by pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to advance equality, spreading disinformation, and funding non-profit organisations.
We review five instances that affected the safety, dignity and lives of females globally.
The Dismantling of USAID
In March, a month and a half following a key American development organization is halted, causing widespread distress, a leading figure in the administration states that the lion's share of the body's projects will be terminated. US diplomats, past leaders and aid and medical specialists denounce the action, predicting that mortality will increase. 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 regions of instability. As the year ends, reports confirm 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 announce their own austerity measures. A director of a global justice organization 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 luxury Manhattan venue for a biannual gathering held in parallel with the annual UN Women gathering. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to counter the UN's progressive policies. They are in optimistic frame of mind as they celebrate shifts in US policy on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the gender equality forum with a grave caution that “the venom of male dominance” is returning, after a report shows that anti-rights actors are deliberately weakening longstanding consensus on core aspects of gender equality around the world.
African ‘Family Values’ Conferences
Over the warmer months, a series of conferences in Africa centered on the traditional family and national sovereignty raises concerns among rights advocates. In May, a head of state and partner open a major forum to push back on what they label external influences undermining local norms. A shortly thereafter, another regional summit on family values is held. Both events are participated in by leading American and European conservative activists, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker urges African NGOs to resist “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of international organizations. In the following month, a major religious institution hosts a family strengthening conference in West Africa, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Activists observe that the scale of their presence has increased markedly.
Contraceptive Destruction Order
As health facilities across Africa report they are depleting their stocks of family planning supplies, including post-rape care packages, the US announces in midsummer plans to destroy millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a storage facility in Belgium. A major reproductive health federation states that their destruction will deny millions of women and girls 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 forcing a conservative worldview globally” and “a deliberate form of reproductive oppression”. A international emergency medical charity calls it “heartless and dangerous”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains unresolved as the regional government will not allow the destruction of viable medicines.
Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy
Reviving the global gag rule, which prohibits Washington's support for groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is standard practice for certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the rule was reinstated in the first month of the year. The administration also signed onto a conservative consensus document. But in October, the US announces it intends to expand the global gag rule to include governments and multilateral organisations in addition to NGOs, and to encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. Additional information regarding the policy's widened application are likely forthcoming. A leader in global maternal health says broadening the policy will have “unimaginable effects”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that fresh American assistance deals being discussed with African nations will become contingent upon adopting the new, wider policy.
