A Quintet of Crucial Incidents in the Attack on the Freedoms of Women and Girls in the Past Year.
This time last year, feminist advocacy groups were anticipating a return of Donald Trump to office. Few were prepared for. The flood and velocity of executive orders coming out of the White House were viewed as a deliberate tactic to paralyze through overload. In many ways it worked – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as agencies hastened to plug the hole left by a major funding freeze. But this was only the precursor.
The US administration has been the key driver, bolstered by vigorous campaigning by religious fundamentalist networks capitalizing on the climate to solidify transnational relationships with ideological partners.
The movement against gender equality signifies a transnational grouping of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as billionaire families and individuals that strive to weaken advances on numerous fronts. This encompasses pro-choice policies, equality for sexual minorities, gender identity recognition, and inclusive relationship teaching.
They do this by pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to advance equality, spreading disinformation, and funding non-profit organisations.
We review five instances that influenced the safety, dignity and lives of girls and women.
USAID Dismantled
In March, six weeks after a prominent humanitarian funder is suspended, causing global disruption, a leading figure in the administration states that the lion's share of the agency’s programmes will be eliminated. Career diplomats, past leaders and aid and medical specialists decry the decision, cautioning that lives will be lost. Activists say that the closure of the organization 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 females will bear the brunt by waning support, especially in war zones. As the year ends, statistics reveal how a significant mortality toll has been exacted from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with millions more to come. Another pair of leading funders initiate similar reductions. A director of a global justice organization says a move to cut foreign aid drastically 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 strategic summit held in parallel with the UN's flagship gender equality meeting. It is an chance to exchange strategies on how to counter the UN's progressive policies. They are in buoyant mood as they celebrate 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 toxin of gendered hierarchy” is returning, after a study indicates that anti-rights actors are deliberately weakening historic agreements on core aspects of gender equality around the world.
Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa
Over the summer, a sequence of gatherings in Africa themed around the traditional family and national sovereignty triggers anxiety among human rights defenders. In May, a head of state and partner open a large assembly to resist what they label external influences undermining local norms. A few days later, another Pan-African conference on traditional morals is held. Both events are attended by leading American and European conservative activists, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker urges African NGOs to push back against “radical global social engineering” of international organizations. In the following month, a major religious institution hosts a family strengthening conference in West Africa, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Advocates remark that the extent of foreign involvement has increased markedly.
American Plan to Burn Birth Control
As health facilities across 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 global sexual health network states that their elimination will deprive countless females from access to birth control, and lead to a surge in unplanned pregnancies and dangerous terminations. The organization labels the plan an dogmatic choice “about forcing a conservative worldview globally” and “an intentional act of reproductive coercion”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “callous and reckless”. Charities attempt to acquire the contraceptives so they can fulfill their original purpose, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains unresolved as the regional government will not allow usable products to be destroyed.
Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy
Bringing back the anti-abortion funding ban, which cuts American funding for groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is typical of certain US administrations. It was widely expected 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 national governments and international bodies in addition to NGOs, and to encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. Additional information regarding the expansion of the rule are anticipated next year. A director of a major health partnership says extending the reach will have “catastrophic impacts”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that fresh American assistance deals being negotiated with countries in Africa will become contingent upon adopting the broadened restrictions.