Five Defining Key Moments in the Erosion of the Freedoms of Women and Girls in the Year 2025.

Twelve months prior, groups dedicated to gender equality were steeling themselves against a second Trump term. Hardly anyone anticipated. The flood and velocity of White House mandates coming out of the White House were viewed as a premeditated approach to cause confusion and fear. This strategy had its intended impact – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as agencies hastened to compensate for the loss left by a abrupt cessation of financial support. But this merely marked the opening act.

The American government has been the key driver, complemented by relentless activism by far-right organisations using the moment to build worldwide connections with like-minded governments.

Often termed the anti-gender movement describes a worldwide alliance of government figures, churches, and advocacy collectives as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that strive to weaken advances on numerous fronts. This covers access to termination, gay and trans protections, alternative households, and factual sexual instruction.

They achieve this through lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to advance equality, spreading disinformation, and funding non-profit organisations.

We review five episodes that shaped the security, respect, and well-being of females globally.

The Demise of a Major Aid Agency

In March, a month and a half following a prominent humanitarian funder is halted, causing international chaos, a top American diplomat confirms that nearly all of the body's projects will be terminated. Career diplomats, ex-presidents and aid and medical specialists denounce the action, cautioning that fatalities will ensue. Activists say that the demise of the agency is more than a funding crisis, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and access to contraception and reproductive health services. Many organisations say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by diminishing aid, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, evidence indicates how a significant mortality toll has been exacted from illness, famine, inadequate obstetric services, and violence against women, with millions more to come. Another pair of leading funders follow with their own cuts. A head of a worldwide campaign network says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is a move to appease a political ally.

Conservative Religious Groups Lobby at UN Women Meeting

In the same month, several faith-based advocacy networks meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a two-day conference held in parallel with the annual UN Women gathering. It is an chance to exchange strategies on how to oppose what they term a UN overreach. They are in high spirits as they applaud new Washington directives on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the global conference with a stark warning that “the toxin of gendered hierarchy” is resurgent, after a report shows that opponents of gender equality are actively undermining longstanding consensus on fundamental freedoms for women around the world.

Summits Promoting Conservative Norms

Over the warmer months, a cluster of meetings in Africa centered on the conservative family structures and national independence raises concerns among equality campaigners. In early May, a head of state and partner open a major forum to resist what they label criminal foreign forces eroding traditional family values. A shortly thereafter, another Pan-African conference on conservative ethics is held. Both events are graced by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker urges African NGOs to push back against “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of international organizations. In June, a prominent church hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in the region, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Advocates remark that the extent of foreign involvement has expanded considerably.

American Plan to Burn Birth Control

As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are running out of contraceptives, including prophylaxis for assault victims, the US announces in midsummer plans to dispose of a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a storage facility in Belgium. A global sexual health network states that their incineration will prevent millions of women and girls 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 exporting a regressive policy worldwide” and “a deliberate form of reproductive oppression”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “callous and reckless”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains unresolved as local authorities refuse to permit the destruction of viable medicines.

‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded

Bringing back the anti-abortion funding ban, which prohibits Washington's support for groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is commonplace under certain US administrations. It came as no surprise when the policy was restored in January. The administration also signed onto a conservative consensus document. But in October, the US announces it intends to expand the global gag rule to include governments and multilateral organisations in addition to NGOs, and to cover diversity programmes. Additional information regarding the broader enforcement are anticipated next year. A leader in global maternal health says extending the reach will have “devastating consequences”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being negotiated with countries in Africa will become conditional on accepting the broadened restrictions.