Five Major Crucial Incidents in the Erosion of the Rights of Women and Girls in This Past Year.

Twelve months prior, groups dedicated to gender equality were anticipating a second Trump term. Few were prepared for. The torrent and swiftness of executive orders issued from the White House were seen as a deliberate tactic to cause confusion and fear. To a large extent, it succeeded – there was bewilderment, fury, and fatigue as agencies hastened to plug the hole left by a sudden aid suspension. But this merely marked the opening act.

The US administration has been the central catalyst, bolstered by vigorous campaigning by far-right organisations capitalizing on the climate 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 seek to undermine advances on numerous fronts. This covers abortion, LGBTQ rights, trans rights, non-traditional family structures and comprehensive sexuality education.

They do this by advocating to officials, financing legal challenges, sabotaging multilateral work to advance equality, spreading disinformation, and funding non-profit organisations.

We look at five junctures that influenced the security, respect, and well-being of women and girls.

USAID Dismantled

In early spring, a month and a half following a major US aid agency is suspended, causing turmoil around the world, a top American diplomat confirms that nearly all of the organization's initiatives will be axed. Career diplomats, ex-presidents and aid and medical specialists decry the decision, predicting that mortality will increase. Activists say that the demise of the agency is not just a financial shortfall, 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 shrinking assistance, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, data shows how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with many more millions at risk. Two other major donor nations announce their own austerity measures. A director of a global justice organization says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is a move to appease a political ally.

Conservative Religious Groups Lobby at UN Women Meeting

In the same month, several conservative religious groups meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a biannual gathering held concurrently with the international conference on women's rights. It is an chance to exchange strategies on how to oppose what they term a UN overreach. They are in optimistic frame of mind as they celebrate changes in American foreign policy on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the global conference with a grave caution that “the venom of male dominance” is resurgent, after a analysis demonstrates that anti-rights actors are systematically eroding established norms on fundamental freedoms for women around the world.

Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa

Over the warmer months, a series of conferences in Africa themed around the traditional family and national sovereignty sparks alarm among human rights defenders. In May, a head of state and partner open a large assembly to push back on what they label external influences undermining local norms. A soon after, another regional summit on traditional morals is held. Both events are attended by leading American and European conservative activists, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker calls on African NGOs to push back against “radical global social engineering” of multilateral bodies. In the following month, a prominent church hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in West Africa, an event that health activists say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Campaigners note that the level of external participation has grown significantly.

Contraceptive Destruction Order

As medical centers in numerous African countries report they are depleting their stocks of family planning supplies, including prophylaxis for assault victims, the US announces in midsummer plans to incinerate a vast stockpile of birth control held in a European depot. A global sexual health network states that their incineration will prevent millions of women and girls from family planning options, and lead to a public health crisis of unwanted pregnancies. The organization labels the plan an dogmatic choice “about forcing a conservative worldview globally” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A international emergency medical charity calls it “cruel and irresponsible”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains at a standstill as the regional government are blocking the destruction of viable medicines.

‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded

Reinstating the Mexico City Policy, which halts US aid to groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is standard practice for certain US administrations. It came as no surprise when the ban was reimposed in the first month of the year. The administration also rejoined an international anti-abortion agreement. 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. Additional information regarding the broader enforcement are expected in early 2026. A director of a major health partnership says widening the scope will have “devastating consequences”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that fresh American assistance deals being discussed with African nations will become conditional on accepting the expanded global gag.