Five Landmark Occurrences in the Challenge to the Freedoms of Women and Girls in This Past Year.

Twelve months prior, groups dedicated to gender equality were preparing for a return of Donald Trump to office. Few were prepared for. The volume and speed of executive orders coming out of the White House were interpreted as a deliberate tactic to paralyze through overload. In many ways it worked – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as networks struggled to compensate for the loss left by a abrupt cessation of financial support. But that was just the beginning.

The American government has been the main instigator, supported by vigorous campaigning by deeply conservative factions using the moment to build worldwide connections with political allies.

This opposition to progressive rights describes a worldwide alliance of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as billionaire families and individuals that work to dismantle forward movement on multiple topics. Areas targeted involve reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed.

They do this by pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to advance equality, spreading disinformation, and funding non-profit organisations.

We review five episodes that shaped the welfare, autonomy, and survival of girls and women.

The Demise of a Major Aid Agency

In the month of March, six weeks after a key American development organization is its funds are blocked, causing turmoil around the world, a senior US official announces that a vast majority of the agency’s programmes will be eliminated. American foreign service officers, past leaders and humanitarian and health experts condemn the news, warning that people will die as a result. Human rights advocates say that the closure of the organization is greater than a budgetary issue, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and birth control and maternal healthcare. Many organisations say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by reduced funding, especially in war zones. 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 many more millions at risk. Another pair of leading funders proceed with parallel slashes. A leader of an international advocacy group 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 March, several faith-based advocacy networks meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a biannual gathering held in parallel with the annual UN Women gathering. It is an chance to exchange strategies on how to oppose what they term a UN overreach. They are in high spirits as they celebrate changes in American foreign policy on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the global conference with a stark warning that “the poison of patriarchy” is resurgent, after a study indicates that opponents of gender equality are actively undermining historic agreements on core aspects of gender equality around the world.

Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa

Over the warmer months, a sequence of gatherings in Africa centered on the conventional household and state autonomy triggers anxiety among human rights defenders. In early May, a national leader and spouse open a large assembly to resist what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A shortly thereafter, another Pan-African conference on family values is held. Both events are attended by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker urges African NGOs to resist “radical global social engineering” of international organizations. In June, a global faith group hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in the region, an event that health activists say has become a forum for opposing queer and trans rights. Campaigners note that the scale of their presence has expanded considerably.

American Plan to Burn Birth Control

As health facilities across Africa report they are running out of contraceptives, including post-rape care packages, the US announces in July plans to incinerate a vast stockpile of birth control held in a warehouse in Europe. A leading family planning organization 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 ideological decision “about imposing an anti-rights agenda on the entire world” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A renowned doctors' group calls it “cruel and irresponsible”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can be distributed to those in need, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains in deadlock as host nation officials are blocking the destruction of viable medicines.

Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy

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 policy was restored in January. The administration also signed onto a conservative consensus document. But in the autumn, 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. More details on the expansion of the rule are anticipated next year. A leader in global maternal health says extending the reach will have “catastrophic impacts”. Pro-choice activists fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being negotiated with countries in Africa will become dependent on agreeing to the broadened restrictions.