Five Defining Pivotal Events in the Assault on the Freedoms of Women and Girls in This Past Year.
Twelve months prior, women’s rights organisations were preparing for a return of Donald Trump to office. Hardly anyone anticipated. The flood and velocity of executive orders coming out of the White House were interpreted as a deliberate tactic to paralyze through overload. The tactic proved effective – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as agencies hastened to fill the gap left by a freeze on international development funds. But the situation was about to worsen.
The Trump administration has been the key driver, aided by intense advocacy work by deeply conservative factions exploiting the situation to forge international alliances with ideological partners.
Often termed the anti-gender movement describes a worldwide alliance of government figures, churches, and advocacy collectives as well as wealthy philanthropists and dynasties that strive to weaken progress across a wide spectrum of issues. This encompasses abortion, LGBTQ rights, trans rights, non-traditional family structures and comprehensive sexuality education.
They accomplish their goals by lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to advance equality, spreading disinformation, and funding non-profit organisations.
We look at five junctures that shaped the security, respect, and well-being of girls and women.
The Demise of a Major Aid Agency
In the month of March, six weeks after a prominent humanitarian funder is its funds are blocked, causing turmoil around the world, a senior US official reveals that over eighty percent of the organization's initiatives will be axed. American foreign service officers, past leaders and aid and medical specialists condemn the news, predicting that fatalities will ensue. Rights defenders say that the closure of the organization is greater than a budgetary issue, 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 reduced funding, especially in conflict areas. 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 many more millions at risk. Another pair of leading funders follow with their own cuts. A leader of an international advocacy group says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is an attempt to placate a powerful partner.
Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit
In March, several Christian-right organisations 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 chance to exchange strategies on how to counter the UN's progressive policies. They are in buoyant mood as they applaud changes in American foreign policy on gender, diversity and abortion. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the gender equality forum with a somber alert that “the poison of patriarchy” is resurgent, after a analysis demonstrates that groups opposing progressive rights are systematically eroding established norms on fundamental freedoms for women around the world.
Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa
Over the warmer months, a sequence of gatherings in Africa themed around the conservative family structures and national independence triggers anxiety among human rights defenders. In the start of May, a national leader and spouse open a major forum to resist what they label external influences undermining local norms. A soon after, another regional summit on conservative ethics is held. Both events are participated in by leading Western campaigners against gender ideology, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker urges African NGOs to stand up to “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of international organizations. In the following month, a major religious institution hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in West Africa, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Activists observe that the level of external participation has increased markedly.
Contraceptive Destruction Order
As health facilities across Africa report they are running out of contraceptives, including emergency kits for survivors of sexual violence, the US announces in midsummer plans to incinerate millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a storage facility in Belgium. A major reproductive health federation states that their incineration will prevent millions of women and girls from family planning options, and lead to a surge in unplanned pregnancies and dangerous terminations. The organization labels the plan an politically-motivated move “about exporting a regressive policy worldwide” and “an intentional act of reproductive coercion”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “heartless and dangerous”. Charities attempt to acquire the contraceptives so they can be distributed to those in need, but the US refuses all offers. 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 rule was reinstated in January. The administration also reaffirmed membership in a pro-life declaration. But in the autumn, the US announces it intends to broaden the scope of the policy to include national governments and international bodies in addition to NGOs, and to encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. More details on the broader enforcement are anticipated next year. A expert in child welfare says broadening the policy will have “unimaginable effects”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that fresh American assistance deals being discussed with African nations will become dependent on agreeing to the expanded global gag.
