Five Key Moments in the Attack on the Rights of Females in the Past Year.
A year ago, groups dedicated to gender equality were anticipating a new Trump administration. The ensuing chaos was largely unforeseen. The sheer number and rapid pace of executive orders emanating from the White House were seen as a intentional maneuver to overwhelm and create panic. In many ways it worked – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as networks struggled to fill the gap left by a freeze on international development funds. But this was only the precursor.
The American government has been the central catalyst, bolstered by relentless activism by deeply conservative factions using the moment to strengthen global ties with ideological partners.
The movement against gender equality denotes an international coalition of government figures, churches, and advocacy collectives as well as affluent financiers and clans that seek to undermine gains in a variety of areas. This encompasses pro-choice policies, equality for sexual minorities, gender identity recognition, and inclusive relationship teaching.
They do this by influencing policymakers, funding litigation, undermining global initiatives to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups.
We analyze five episodes that impacted the safety, dignity and lives of girls and women.
USAID Effectively Dismantled
In March, six weeks after a prominent humanitarian funder is halted, causing widespread distress, a top American diplomat reveals that a vast majority of the institution's work will be scrapped. Career diplomats, ex-presidents and aid and medical specialists criticize the move, stating that lives will be lost. Rights defenders say that the demise of the agency is greater than a budgetary issue, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and family planning and reproductive care. Many organisations say the impact on girls and women will be severe by reduced funding, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, reports confirm how a significant mortality toll has been exacted from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with many more millions at risk. Another pair of leading funders announce their own austerity measures. A leader of an international advocacy group says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is an attempt to placate a powerful partner.
Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit
In the same month, several Christian-right organisations meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a two-day conference held concurrently with the international conference on women's rights. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to defeat the UN’s “radical agenda”. They are in high spirits as they applaud shifts in US policy on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the women’s summit with a stark warning that “the venom of male dominance” is returning, after a study indicates that opponents of gender equality are deliberately weakening longstanding consensus on key women’s rights issues around the world.
African ‘Family Values’ Conferences
Over the summer, a sequence of gatherings in Africa themed around the conventional household and state autonomy raises concerns among human rights defenders. In May, a head of state and partner open a significant conference to combat what they label criminal foreign forces eroding traditional family values. A shortly thereafter, another continental gathering on conservative ethics is held. Both events are attended by leading Western campaigners against gender ideology, including heads of influential networks. One speaker urges African NGOs to stand up to “international liberal agenda” of multilateral bodies. In the following month, a major religious institution hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in West Africa, an event that health activists say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Activists observe that the level of external participation has increased markedly.
US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives
As health facilities across Africa report they are facing shortages of birth control, including prophylaxis for assault victims, the US announces in July plans to incinerate a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a storage facility in Belgium. A global sexual health network states that their elimination will deprive millions of women and girls from access to birth control, and lead to a surge in unplanned pregnancies and dangerous terminations. The organization labels the plan an ideological decision “about forcing a conservative worldview globally” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A renowned doctors' group calls it “cruel and irresponsible”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains unresolved as host nation officials refuse to permit usable products to be destroyed.
Broader Restrictions on Aid
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 was anticipated when the ban was reimposed 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 broaden the scope of the policy to include governments and multilateral organisations in addition to NGOs, and to encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. Further specifics about the expansion of the rule are anticipated next year. A leader in global maternal health says extending the reach will have “catastrophic impacts”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being negotiated with countries in Africa will become contingent upon adopting the broadened restrictions.
