Five Landmark Occurrences in the Assault on the Freedoms of Women and Girls in 2025.
In the previous year, women’s rights organisations were steeling themselves against a return of Donald Trump to office. Hardly anyone anticipated. The flood and velocity of White House mandates coming out of the White House were regarded as a calculated strategy to overwhelm and create panic. The tactic proved effective – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as groups rushed to plug the hole left by a sudden aid suspension. But that was just the beginning.
The American government has been the central catalyst, supported by intense advocacy work by deeply conservative factions capitalizing on the climate to strengthen global ties with like-minded governments.
The anti-rights movement describes a worldwide alliance of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as affluent financiers and clans that work to dismantle gains in a variety of areas. These include 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 foster equity, propagating misinformation, and bankrolling sympathetic charities.
We analyze five instances that shaped the security, respect, and well-being of girls and women.
The Demise of a Major Aid Agency
In March, a month and a half following a prominent humanitarian funder is suspended, causing international chaos, a leading figure in the administration confirms that nearly all of the agency’s programmes will be eliminated. Career diplomats, ex-presidents and relief and public health authorities denounce the action, stating that lives will be lost. Rights defenders say that the demise of the agency is greater than a budgetary issue, it is a savage attack on human rights and access to contraception and reproductive health services. Many organisations say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by waning support, especially in war zones. As the year ends, statistics reveal how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with many more millions at risk. Another pair of leading funders initiate similar reductions. A director of a global justice organization says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is a gesture of alignment with another government's agenda.
Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit
In the same month, several conservative religious groups meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a two-day conference held alongside the international conference on women's rights. It is an chance to exchange strategies on how to counter the UN's progressive policies. They are in buoyant mood as they celebrate new Washington directives on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the world's top diplomat opens the global conference with a grave caution that “the toxin of gendered hierarchy” is resurgent, after a report shows that anti-rights actors are systematically eroding historic agreements on fundamental freedoms for women around the world.
African ‘Family Values’ Conferences
Over the warmer months, a cluster of meetings in Africa themed around the conventional household and state autonomy raises concerns among rights advocates. In early May, a national leader and spouse open a major forum to push back on what they label criminal foreign forces eroding traditional family values. A few days later, another regional summit on conservative ethics is held. Both events are attended by leading Western campaigners against gender ideology, including heads of influential networks. One speaker calls on African NGOs to push back against “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of international organizations. In the following month, a prominent church hosts a family strengthening conference in the region, an event that health activists say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Campaigners note that the level of external participation has grown significantly.
Contraceptive Destruction Order
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 dispose of a vast stockpile of birth control held in a warehouse in Europe. A major reproductive health federation states that their incineration will prevent countless females from contraceptive supplies, and lead to a public health crisis of unwanted pregnancies. The organization labels the plan an politically-motivated move “about exporting a regressive policy worldwide” and “a deliberate form of reproductive oppression”. A international emergency medical charity calls it “heartless and dangerous”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains at a standstill as host nation officials are blocking perfectly good supplies to be incinerated.
Broader Restrictions on Aid
Reinstating the Mexico City Policy, which halts US aid to groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is commonplace under certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the rule was reinstated in January. The administration also reaffirmed membership in a pro-life declaration. But in October, 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. More details on the policy's widened application are expected in early 2026. A leader in global maternal health says extending the reach will have “devastating consequences”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that fresh American assistance deals being arranged with states on the continent will become dependent on agreeing to the expanded global gag.
