Five Key Moments in the Rollback of the Freedoms of Women and Girls in 2025.
In the previous year, groups dedicated to gender equality were bracing themselves for a return of Donald Trump to office. Scarcely anyone expected. The sheer number and rapid pace of presidential directives originating in the White House were regarded as a calculated strategy to overwhelm and create panic. To a large extent, it succeeded – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as organisations scrambled to address the shortfall left by a freeze on international development funds. But this was only the precursor.
The Trump administration has been the central catalyst, supported by fervent lobbying efforts by ultra-conservative groups capitalizing on the climate to build worldwide connections with like-minded governments.
The movement against gender equality refers to a global network of government figures, churches, and advocacy collectives as well as billionaire families and individuals that seek to undermine gains in a variety of areas. This covers 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 foster equity, propagating misinformation, and bankrolling sympathetic charities.
We examine five instances that influenced the protection, honor, and existence of females globally.
USAID Effectively Dismantled
In March, a month and a half following a prominent humanitarian funder is halted, causing global disruption, a leading figure in the administration states that a vast majority of the institution's work will be scrapped. Career diplomats, ex-presidents and aid and medical specialists denounce the action, stating that mortality will increase. Activists say that the demise of the agency is more than a funding crisis, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and birth control and maternal healthcare. Many organisations say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by diminishing aid, especially in war zones. As the year ends, evidence indicates how a significant mortality toll has been exacted from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with millions more to come. Two other major donor nations initiate similar reductions. A head of a worldwide campaign network says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is an attempt to placate a powerful partner.
Conservative Religious Groups Lobby at UN Women Meeting
In the same month, several faith-based advocacy networks meet in an luxury Manhattan venue for a two-day conference held concurrently with the annual UN Women gathering. It is an chance to exchange strategies on how to defeat the UN’s “radical agenda”. They are in optimistic frame of mind as they welcome shifts in US policy on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the women’s summit with a stark warning that “the poison of patriarchy” is back, after a study indicates that opponents of gender equality are deliberately weakening longstanding consensus on core aspects of gender equality around the world.
Summits Promoting Conservative Norms
Over the summer, a cluster of meetings in Africa themed around the traditional family and national sovereignty raises concerns among equality campaigners. In early May, a head of state and partner open a major forum to resist what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A soon after, another continental gathering on conservative ethics is held. Both events are graced by leading Western campaigners against gender ideology, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker calls on African NGOs to resist “international liberal agenda” of global institutions. In June, a major religious institution hosts a family strengthening conference in an African nation, an event that health activists say has become a forum for opposing queer and trans rights. 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 post-rape care packages, the US announces in July plans to incinerate a vast stockpile of birth control held in a European depot. A leading family planning organization states that their destruction will deny millions of women and girls from family planning options, and lead to a surge in unplanned pregnancies and dangerous terminations. The organization labels the plan an dogmatic choice “about forcing a conservative worldview globally” and “an intentional act of reproductive coercion”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “heartless and dangerous”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US declines every proposal. The situation remains at a standstill as local authorities are blocking the destruction of viable medicines.
‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded
Reviving the global gag rule, 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 rule was reinstated in the first month of the year. The administration also reaffirmed membership in a pro-life declaration. But in October, the US announces it intends to expand the global gag rule to include sovereign states and UN agencies in addition to NGOs, and to cover diversity programmes. Further specifics about the broader enforcement are likely forthcoming. A director of a major health partnership says broadening the policy will have “unimaginable effects”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being discussed with African nations will become contingent upon adopting the expanded global gag.
