A Quintet of Pivotal Events in the Challenge to the Rights of Women and Girls in This Past Year.

Twelve months prior, women’s rights organisations were bracing themselves for a return of Donald Trump to office. Few were prepared for. The sheer number and rapid pace of administrative decrees coming out of the White House were regarded as a intentional maneuver to cause confusion and fear. To a large extent, it succeeded – there was disarray, outrage, and weariness as agencies hastened to compensate for the loss left by a abrupt cessation of financial support. But this was only the precursor.

The American government has been the main instigator, bolstered by vigorous campaigning by deeply conservative factions seizing the opportunity to strengthen global ties with sympathetic regimes.

The anti-rights movement describes a worldwide alliance 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 abortion, LGBTQ rights, trans rights, non-traditional family structures and comprehensive sexuality education.

They accomplish their goals by pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to promote fairness, circulating falsehoods, and resourcing aligned NGOs.

We review five episodes that shaped the protection, honor, and existence of the female population.

USAID Dismantled

In March, a month and a half following a major US aid agency is suspended, causing turmoil around the world, a top American diplomat announces that the lion's share of the agency’s programmes will be eliminated. Career diplomats, ex-presidents and relief and public health authorities denounce the action, predicting that people will die as a result. Human rights advocates say that the demise of the agency is more than a funding crisis, it is a savage attack on human rights and access to contraception and reproductive health services. A multitude of agencies say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by shrinking assistance, especially in regions of instability. As the year ends, reports confirm how a tremendous loss of life has already occurred from illness, famine, inadequate obstetric services, and violence against women, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Additional key contributing countries announce their own austerity measures. A head of a worldwide campaign network 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 upmarket New York hotel for a strategic summit held in parallel with the UN's flagship gender equality meeting. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to counter the UN's progressive policies. They are in buoyant mood as they welcome shifts in US policy on gender, diversity and abortion. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations 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 actively undermining established norms on key women’s rights issues around the world.

African ‘Family Values’ Conferences

Over the summer, a sequence of gatherings in Africa focused on the traditional family and national sovereignty triggers anxiety among rights advocates. In early May, a national leader and spouse open a major forum to resist what they label external influences undermining local norms. A soon after, another Pan-African conference on conservative ethics is held. Both events are attended by leading American and European conservative activists, including heads of influential networks. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to resist “radical global social engineering” of multilateral bodies. In June, a major religious institution hosts a family strengthening conference in an African nation, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Campaigners note that the extent of foreign involvement has grown significantly.

Contraceptive Destruction Order

As medical centers in numerous African countries report they are facing shortages of birth control, including post-rape care packages, the US announces in July plans to dispose of millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a warehouse in Europe. A leading family planning organization states that their elimination will deprive a huge female population from contraceptive supplies, 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 “heartless and dangerous”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can be distributed to those in need, but the US declines every proposal. The situation remains unresolved as host nation officials refuse to permit perfectly good supplies to be incinerated.

Broader Restrictions on Aid

Reviving the global gag rule, which prohibits Washington's support for groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is commonplace under 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 expand the global gag rule to include sovereign states and UN agencies in addition to NGOs, and to encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. More details on the expansion of the rule are anticipated next year. A director of a major health partnership says broadening the policy will have “catastrophic impacts”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that new US aid packages being negotiated with countries in Africa will become contingent upon adopting the broadened restrictions.