🔗 Share this article Five Critical Key Moments in the Attack on the Rights of Females in the Year 2025. In the previous year, organisations advocating for women's rights were preparing for a second Trump term. Scarcely anyone expected. The flood and velocity of White House mandates coming out of the White House were regarded as a calculated strategy to cause confusion and fear. To a large extent, it succeeded – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as networks struggled to plug the hole left by a major funding freeze. But this merely marked the opening act. The US administration has been the central catalyst, aided by fervent lobbying efforts by far-right organisations exploiting the situation to solidify transnational relationships with sympathetic regimes. The anti-rights movement denotes an international coalition of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as billionaire families and individuals that seek to undermine progress across a wide spectrum of issues. Areas targeted involve reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed. They achieve this through lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to advance equality, spreading disinformation, and funding non-profit organisations. We look at five junctures that impacted the safety, dignity and lives of the female population. USAID Dismantled In the month of March, a month and a half following a major US aid agency is halted, causing global disruption, a leading figure in the administration reveals that over eighty percent of the institution's work will be scrapped. American foreign service officers, ex-presidents and humanitarian and health experts decry the decision, cautioning that fatalities will ensue. Human rights advocates say that the demise of the agency is not just a financial shortfall, it is a savage attack on human rights and access to contraception and reproductive health services. A multitude of agencies say the impact on girls and women will be severe by shrinking assistance, especially in war zones. As the year ends, statistics reveal how a tremendous loss of life has already occurred from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Two other major donor nations follow with their own cuts. A head of a worldwide campaign network says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is a gesture of alignment with another government's agenda. Faith-Based Activists Mobilize at UN Conference In March, several Christian-right organisations meet in an high-end hotel in NYC 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 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 head of the United Nations opens the women’s summit with a stark warning that “the toxin of gendered hierarchy” is resurgent, after a study indicates that opponents of gender equality are systematically eroding established norms on key women’s rights issues around the world. Summits Promoting Conservative Norms Over the warmer months, a sequence of gatherings in Africa focused on the conventional household and state autonomy sparks alarm among human rights defenders. In May, a president and first lady open a significant conference to combat what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A soon after, another continental gathering on conservative ethics is held. Both events are attended by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including heads of influential networks. One speaker urges African NGOs to push back against “international liberal agenda” of international organizations. In June, a major religious institution hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in West Africa, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Campaigners note that the scale of their presence has increased markedly. 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 July plans to dispose of millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a European depot. A major reproductive health federation states that their destruction will deny countless females from family planning options, and lead to a public health crisis of unwanted pregnancies. The organization labels the plan an dogmatic choice “about forcing a conservative worldview globally” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A international emergency medical charity calls it “callous and reckless”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US declines every proposal. The situation remains at a standstill as local authorities refuse to permit perfectly good supplies to be incinerated. ‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded Reviving the global gag rule, which cuts American funding for groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is standard practice for certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the rule was reinstated in the first month of the year. The administration also rejoined an international anti-abortion agreement. But in the autumn, the US announces it intends to extend the restrictions to include national governments and international bodies in addition to NGOs, and to include DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) projects. Further specifics about the broader enforcement are expected in early 2026. A director of a major health partnership says broadening the policy will have “unimaginable effects”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being discussed with African nations will become conditional on accepting the expanded global gag.
In the previous year, organisations advocating for women's rights were preparing for a second Trump term. Scarcely anyone expected. The flood and velocity of White House mandates coming out of the White House were regarded as a calculated strategy to cause confusion and fear. To a large extent, it succeeded – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as networks struggled to plug the hole left by a major funding freeze. But this merely marked the opening act. The US administration has been the central catalyst, aided by fervent lobbying efforts by far-right organisations exploiting the situation to solidify transnational relationships with sympathetic regimes. The anti-rights movement denotes an international coalition of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as billionaire families and individuals that seek to undermine progress across a wide spectrum of issues. Areas targeted involve reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed. They achieve this through lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to advance equality, spreading disinformation, and funding non-profit organisations. We look at five junctures that impacted the safety, dignity and lives of the female population. USAID Dismantled In the month of March, a month and a half following a major US aid agency is halted, causing global disruption, a leading figure in the administration reveals that over eighty percent of the institution's work will be scrapped. American foreign service officers, ex-presidents and humanitarian and health experts decry the decision, cautioning that fatalities will ensue. Human rights advocates say that the demise of the agency is not just a financial shortfall, it is a savage attack on human rights and access to contraception and reproductive health services. A multitude of agencies say the impact on girls and women will be severe by shrinking assistance, especially in war zones. As the year ends, statistics reveal how a tremendous loss of life has already occurred from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Two other major donor nations follow with their own cuts. A head of a worldwide campaign network says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is a gesture of alignment with another government's agenda. Faith-Based Activists Mobilize at UN Conference In March, several Christian-right organisations meet in an high-end hotel in NYC 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 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 head of the United Nations opens the women’s summit with a stark warning that “the toxin of gendered hierarchy” is resurgent, after a study indicates that opponents of gender equality are systematically eroding established norms on key women’s rights issues around the world. Summits Promoting Conservative Norms Over the warmer months, a sequence of gatherings in Africa focused on the conventional household and state autonomy sparks alarm among human rights defenders. In May, a president and first lady open a significant conference to combat what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A soon after, another continental gathering on conservative ethics is held. Both events are attended by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including heads of influential networks. One speaker urges African NGOs to push back against “international liberal agenda” of international organizations. In June, a major religious institution hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in West Africa, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Campaigners note that the scale of their presence has increased markedly. 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 July plans to dispose of millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a European depot. A major reproductive health federation states that their destruction will deny countless females from family planning options, and lead to a public health crisis of unwanted pregnancies. The organization labels the plan an dogmatic choice “about forcing a conservative worldview globally” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A international emergency medical charity calls it “callous and reckless”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US declines every proposal. The situation remains at a standstill as local authorities refuse to permit perfectly good supplies to be incinerated. ‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded Reviving the global gag rule, which cuts American funding for groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is standard practice for certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the rule was reinstated in the first month of the year. The administration also rejoined an international anti-abortion agreement. But in the autumn, the US announces it intends to extend the restrictions to include national governments and international bodies in addition to NGOs, and to include DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) projects. Further specifics about the broader enforcement are expected in early 2026. A director of a major health partnership says broadening the policy will have “unimaginable effects”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being discussed with African nations will become conditional on accepting the expanded global gag.