Five Critical Pivotal Events in the Attack on the Freedoms of Women and Girls in the Past Year.
A year ago, groups dedicated to gender equality were bracing themselves for a new Trump administration. Hardly anyone anticipated. The torrent and swiftness of executive orders issued from the White House were interpreted as a calculated strategy to overwhelm and create panic. In many ways it worked – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as networks struggled to address the shortfall left by a major funding freeze. But this was only the precursor.
The American government has been the central catalyst, aided by relentless activism by ultra-conservative groups seizing the opportunity to strengthen global ties with sympathetic regimes.
The movement against gender equality signifies a transnational grouping of political leaders, religious institutions, civil society groups as well as billionaire families and individuals 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 pursue this agenda via influencing policymakers, funding litigation, undermining global initiatives to foster equity, propagating misinformation, and bankrolling sympathetic charities.
We look at five junctures that influenced the safety, dignity and lives of women and girls.
The Dismantling of USAID
In the month of March, a month and a half following a key American development organization is its funds are blocked, causing international chaos, a leading figure in the administration reveals that the lion's share of the agency’s programmes will be eliminated. US diplomats, past leaders and humanitarian and health experts criticize the move, warning that fatalities will ensue. Rights defenders say that the dismantling of this institution is greater than a budgetary issue, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and family planning and reproductive care. Many organisations say the impact on girls and women will be severe by reduced funding, especially in regions of instability. As the year ends, statistics reveal how a tremendous loss of life has already occurred from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Additional key contributing countries initiate similar reductions. A leader of an international advocacy group 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 conservative religious groups meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a strategic summit held alongside the annual UN Women gathering. It is an chance to exchange strategies on how to counter the UN's progressive policies. They are in high spirits as they celebrate shifts in US policy on gender, diversity and abortion. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the global conference with a stark warning that “the toxin of gendered hierarchy” is resurgent, after a study indicates that anti-rights actors are systematically eroding established norms on fundamental freedoms for women around the world.
Summits Promoting Conservative Norms
Over the summer, a series of conferences in Africa focused on the conventional household and state autonomy triggers anxiety among equality campaigners. In May, a head of state and partner open a large assembly to push back on what they label criminal foreign forces eroding traditional family values. A shortly thereafter, another regional summit on traditional morals is held. Both events are graced by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to resist “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of global institutions. In the following month, a major religious institution hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in West Africa, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Advocates remark that the extent of foreign involvement has grown significantly.
US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives
As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are depleting their stocks of family planning supplies, including post-rape care packages, the US announces in July plans to dispose of a vast stockpile of birth control held in a European depot. A major reproductive health federation states that their destruction will deny a huge female population from family planning options, and lead to a surge in unplanned pregnancies and dangerous terminations. The organization labels the plan an dogmatic choice “about imposing an anti-rights agenda on the entire world” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “heartless and dangerous”. Charities attempt to acquire the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains at a standstill as the regional government refuse to permit the destruction of viable medicines.
Broader Restrictions on Aid
Reinstating the Mexico City Policy, which cuts American funding for groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is standard practice for certain US administrations. It was widely expected when the policy was restored in January. 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 governments and multilateral organisations in addition to NGOs, and to cover diversity programmes. Further specifics about the policy's widened application are likely forthcoming. A leader in global maternal health says widening the scope will have “unimaginable effects”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being discussed with African nations will become contingent upon adopting the new, wider policy.
