A Quintet of Key Moments in the Erosion of the Rights of Females in the Past Year.
This time last year, feminist advocacy groups were anticipating a return of Donald Trump to office. Few were prepared for. The sheer number and rapid pace of executive orders emanating from the White House were seen as a calculated strategy to overwhelm and create panic. In many ways it worked – there was disarray, outrage, and weariness as organisations scrambled to fill the gap left by a major funding freeze. But this merely marked the opening act.
The American government has been the primary force, supported by fervent lobbying efforts by ultra-conservative groups capitalizing on the climate to strengthen global ties with like-minded governments.
The movement against gender equality refers to a global network of political leaders, religious institutions, civil society groups as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that seek to undermine advances on numerous fronts. These include pro-choice policies, equality for sexual minorities, gender identity recognition, and inclusive relationship teaching.
They achieve this through pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to promote fairness, circulating falsehoods, and resourcing aligned NGOs.
We analyze five instances that affected the protection, honor, and existence of the female population.
The Demise of a Major Aid Agency
In March, shortly after a major US aid agency is frozen, causing turmoil around the world, a top American diplomat states that over eighty percent of the body's projects will be terminated. US diplomats, ex-presidents and relief and public health authorities condemn the news, stating that lives will be lost. Rights defenders say that the closure of the organization is not just a financial shortfall, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and family planning and reproductive care. Numerous groups say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by waning support, especially in war zones. As the year ends, evidence indicates how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from illness, famine, inadequate obstetric services, and violence against women, with many more millions at risk. Additional key contributing countries initiate similar reductions. 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 biannual gathering held in parallel with the UN's flagship gender equality meeting. It is an chance to exchange strategies on how to oppose what they term a UN overreach. They are in buoyant mood as they celebrate shifts in US policy on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the gender equality forum with a grave caution that “the poison of patriarchy” is returning, after a study indicates that groups opposing progressive rights are deliberately weakening historic agreements on core aspects of gender equality around the world.
African ‘Family Values’ Conferences
Over the warmer months, a cluster of meetings in Africa centered on the traditional family and national sovereignty raises concerns among rights advocates. In early May, a president and first lady open a large assembly to push back on what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A few days later, another regional summit on family values is held. Both events are graced by leading American and European conservative activists, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to resist “international liberal agenda” of international organizations. In June, a major religious institution hosts a family strengthening conference in West Africa, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Activists observe that the scale of their presence has increased markedly.
US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives
As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are depleting their stocks of family planning supplies, including prophylaxis for assault victims, the US announces in July plans to destroy a vast stockpile of birth control held in a European depot. A leading family planning organization states that their incineration will prevent countless females from access to birth control, and lead to a surge in unplanned pregnancies and dangerous terminations. The organization labels the plan an ideological decision “about imposing an anti-rights agenda on the entire world” and “an intentional act of reproductive coercion”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “heartless and dangerous”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains at a standstill as local authorities will not allow the destruction of viable medicines.
Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy
Bringing back the anti-abortion funding ban, which cuts American funding for groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is typical of certain US administrations. It came as no surprise when the policy was restored 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 expand the global gag rule to include national governments and international bodies in addition to NGOs, and to include DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) projects. Additional information regarding the broader enforcement are anticipated next year. A director of a major health partnership says extending the reach will have “devastating consequences”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that fresh American assistance deals being discussed with African nations will become contingent upon adopting the broadened restrictions.
