Five Major Pivotal Events in the Erosion of the Rights of Females in This Past Year.
A year ago, feminist advocacy groups were preparing for a return of Donald Trump to office. Hardly anyone anticipated. The sheer number and rapid pace of administrative decrees coming out of the White House were viewed as a premeditated approach to induce a state of shock. The tactic proved effective – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as agencies hastened to compensate for the loss left by a abrupt cessation of financial support. But this was only the precursor.
The US administration has been the key driver, bolstered by relentless activism by deeply conservative factions capitalizing on the climate to solidify transnational relationships with like-minded governments.
This opposition to progressive rights refers to a global network of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as billionaire families and individuals that work to dismantle gains in a variety of areas. Areas targeted involve abortion, LGBTQ rights, trans rights, non-traditional family structures and comprehensive sexuality education.
They do this by lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to advance equality, spreading disinformation, and funding non-profit organisations.
We review five junctures that impacted the safety, dignity and lives of girls and women.
USAID Dismantled
In the month of March, shortly after a prominent humanitarian funder is its funds are blocked, causing international chaos, a leading figure in the administration reveals that the lion's share of the body's projects will be terminated. US diplomats, ex-presidents and aid and medical specialists criticize the move, stating that lives will be lost. Human rights advocates say that the demise of the agency is greater than a budgetary issue, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and access to contraception and reproductive health services. A multitude of agencies say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by diminishing aid, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, data shows how a significant mortality toll has been exacted from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with millions more to come. Two other major donor nations proceed with parallel slashes. A director of a global justice organization says a choice to reduce international development funding is a gesture of alignment with another government's agenda.
Faith-Based Activists Mobilize at UN Conference
In the same month, several conservative religious groups meet in an luxury Manhattan venue for a two-day conference 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 high spirits as they celebrate changes in American foreign policy on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the world's top diplomat opens the women’s summit with a somber alert that “the toxin of gendered hierarchy” is returning, after a report shows that anti-rights actors are systematically eroding historic agreements on core aspects of gender equality around the world.
Summits Promoting Conservative Norms
Over the warmer months, a sequence of gatherings in Africa themed around the traditional family and national sovereignty sparks alarm among rights advocates. In the start of May, a president and first lady open a significant conference to combat what they label external influences undermining local norms. A shortly thereafter, another Pan-African conference on family values is held. Both events are participated in by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including heads of influential networks. One speaker calls on African NGOs to resist “radical global social engineering” of multilateral bodies. In the following month, a prominent church hosts a family strengthening conference in the region, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Campaigners note that the scale of their presence has expanded considerably.
Contraceptive Destruction Order
As medical centers in numerous African countries report they are depleting their stocks of family planning supplies, including post-rape care packages, the US announces in July plans to incinerate a vast stockpile of birth control held in a storage facility in Belgium. A major reproductive health federation states that their destruction will deny countless females from family planning options, and lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. 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 “callous and reckless”. Charities attempt to acquire the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains at a standstill as local authorities are blocking perfectly good supplies to be incinerated.
‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded
Bringing back the anti-abortion funding ban, which halts US aid to groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is typical of certain US administrations. It came as no surprise when the rule was reinstated in the first month of the year. The administration also signed onto a conservative consensus document. But in October, the US announces it intends to extend the restrictions to include sovereign states and UN agencies in addition to NGOs, and to include DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) projects. More details on the policy's widened application are likely forthcoming. A director of a major health partnership says widening the scope will have “unimaginable effects”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being negotiated with countries in Africa will become contingent upon adopting the expanded global gag.
