Five Crucial Incidents in the Rollback of the Rights of Women and Girls in the Past Year.

Twelve months prior, women’s rights organisations were anticipating a Trump presidency sequel. The ensuing chaos was largely unforeseen. The volume and speed of executive orders coming out of the White House were viewed as a deliberate tactic to overwhelm and create panic. This strategy had its intended impact – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as agencies hastened to address the shortfall left by a sudden aid suspension. But that was just the beginning.

The American government has been the key driver, complemented by relentless activism by deeply conservative factions seizing the opportunity to solidify transnational relationships with like-minded governments.

This opposition to progressive rights describes a worldwide alliance of government figures, churches, and advocacy collectives as well as wealthy philanthropists and dynasties that work to dismantle advances on numerous fronts. This encompasses access to termination, gay and trans protections, alternative households, and factual sexual instruction.

They achieve this through pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to foster equity, propagating misinformation, and bankrolling sympathetic charities.

We examine five episodes that affected the security, respect, and well-being of women and girls.

USAID Dismantled

In the month of March, a month and a half following a major US aid agency is halted, causing turmoil around the world, a top American diplomat announces that a vast majority of the body's projects will be terminated. American foreign service officers, former presidents and humanitarian and health experts criticize the move, cautioning that mortality will increase. Human rights advocates say that the closure of the organization is not just a financial shortfall, it is a savage attack on human rights and birth control and maternal healthcare. Many organisations say the impact on girls and women will be severe by reduced funding, especially in regions of instability. As the year ends, statistics reveal how hundreds of thousands of people have already died 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 leader of an international advocacy group says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is a gesture of alignment with another government's agenda.

Conservative Religious Groups Lobby at UN Women Meeting

In the same month, several Christian-right organisations meet in an luxury Manhattan venue for a biannual gathering held alongside the annual UN Women gathering. It is an forum to discuss methods on how to counter the UN's progressive policies. They are in high spirits as they welcome shifts in US policy on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the global conference with a grave caution that “the poison of patriarchy” is resurgent, after a analysis demonstrates that opponents of gender equality are actively undermining established norms on core aspects of gender equality around the world.

Summits Promoting Conservative Norms

Over the warmer months, a sequence of gatherings in Africa themed around the conventional household and state autonomy triggers anxiety among equality campaigners. In the start of May, a head of state and partner open a significant conference to combat what they label external influences undermining local norms. A soon after, another regional summit on traditional morals is held. Both events are attended by leading Western campaigners against gender ideology, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker calls on African NGOs to stand up to “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of global institutions. In June, a major religious institution hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in West Africa, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Campaigners note that the level of external participation has grown significantly.

American Plan to Burn Birth Control

As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are running out of contraceptives, including emergency kits for survivors of sexual violence, the US announces in midsummer plans to destroy millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a warehouse in Europe. A major reproductive health federation states that their incineration will prevent millions of women and girls from contraceptive supplies, 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 “an intentional act of reproductive coercion”. A renowned doctors' group 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 the regional government will not allow the destruction of viable medicines.

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 typical of certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the ban was reimposed 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 sovereign states and UN agencies in addition to NGOs, and to include DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) projects. Additional information regarding the expansion of the rule are expected in early 2026. A leader in global maternal health says extending the reach will have “unimaginable effects”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that new US aid packages being discussed with African nations will become conditional on accepting the new, wider policy.