A Quintet of Landmark Occurrences in the Erosion of the Rights of Women and Girls in the Past Year.
This time last year, organisations advocating for women's rights were bracing themselves for a new Trump administration. Few were prepared for. The flood and velocity of presidential directives originating in the White House were interpreted as a intentional maneuver to induce a state of shock. In many ways it worked – there was disarray, outrage, and weariness as networks struggled to fill the gap left by a abrupt cessation of financial support. But that was just the beginning.
The US administration has been the key driver, aided by fervent lobbying efforts by ultra-conservative groups seizing the opportunity to strengthen global ties with sympathetic regimes.
Often termed the anti-gender movement signifies a transnational grouping of political leaders, religious institutions, civil society groups as well as affluent financiers and clans that aim to roll back gains in a variety of areas. Areas targeted involve reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed.
They do this by lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to promote fairness, circulating falsehoods, and resourcing aligned NGOs.
We examine five episodes that affected the security, respect, and well-being of women and girls.
The Demise of a Major Aid Agency
In the month of March, a month and a half following a prominent humanitarian funder is halted, causing global disruption, a senior US official states that over eighty percent of the body's projects will be terminated. Career diplomats, ex-presidents and humanitarian and health experts condemn the news, warning that lives will be lost. Activists say that the demise of the agency is more than a funding crisis, 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 diminishing aid, especially in regions of instability. As the year ends, data shows how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Additional key contributing countries initiate similar reductions. A leader of an international advocacy group says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is a move to appease a political ally.
Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit
In March, several Christian-right organisations meet in an luxury Manhattan venue for a strategic summit held alongside the international conference on women's rights. It is an forum to discuss methods on how to oppose what they term a UN overreach. They are in buoyant mood as they welcome new Washington directives on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the global conference with a grave caution that “the poison of patriarchy” is resurgent, after a report shows that groups opposing progressive rights are actively undermining established norms on key women’s rights issues around the world.
African ‘Family Values’ Conferences
Over the summer, a series of conferences in Africa themed around the conservative family structures and national independence triggers anxiety among rights advocates. In the start of May, a president and first lady open a significant conference to resist what they label criminal foreign forces eroding traditional family values. A shortly thereafter, another continental gathering on traditional morals is held. Both events are participated in by leading American and European conservative activists, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to stand up to “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of multilateral bodies. In the following month, a major religious institution hosts a family strengthening conference in West Africa, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become a forum for opposing queer and trans rights. Advocates remark that the level of external participation has expanded considerably.
American Plan to Burn Birth Control
As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are depleting their stocks of family planning supplies, including emergency kits for survivors of sexual violence, the US announces in July plans to dispose of a vast stockpile of birth control held in a European depot. A global sexual health network states that their incineration will prevent a huge female population from access to birth control, and lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The organization labels the plan an politically-motivated move “about forcing a conservative worldview globally” 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 fulfill their original purpose, but the US declines every proposal. The situation remains unresolved as local authorities will not allow the destruction of viable medicines.
Broader Restrictions on Aid
Bringing back the anti-abortion funding ban, 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 came as no surprise when the policy was restored in January. The administration also rejoined an international anti-abortion agreement. But in the autumn, the US announces it intends to extend the restrictions to include sovereign states and UN agencies in addition to NGOs, and to cover diversity programmes. More details on the broader enforcement are likely forthcoming. A leader in global maternal health says broadening the policy will have “devastating consequences”. Pro-choice activists fear that new US aid packages being arranged with states on the continent will become contingent upon adopting the expanded global gag.