Five Major Pivotal Events in the Attack on the Rights of Women and Girls in 2025.

Twelve months prior, organisations advocating for women's rights were anticipating a Trump presidency sequel. Few were prepared for. The torrent and swiftness of presidential directives issued from the White House were seen as a calculated strategy to induce a state of shock. The tactic proved effective – there was disarray, outrage, and weariness as organisations scrambled to address the shortfall left by a sudden aid suspension. But this was only the precursor.

The Trump administration has been the central catalyst, supported by relentless activism by ultra-conservative groups seizing the opportunity to strengthen global ties with like-minded governments.

The movement against gender equality describes a worldwide alliance of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as wealthy philanthropists and dynasties that work to dismantle progress across a wide spectrum of issues. This encompasses pro-choice policies, equality for sexual minorities, gender identity recognition, and inclusive relationship teaching.

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 instances that shaped the safety, dignity and lives of girls and women.

USAID Dismantled

In March, six weeks after a major US aid agency is its funds are blocked, causing turmoil around the world, a senior US official states that nearly all of the organization's initiatives will be axed. US diplomats, former presidents and humanitarian and health experts criticize the move, cautioning that lives will be lost. Activists say that the dismantling of this institution is not just a financial shortfall, it is a savage attack on human rights and family planning and reproductive care. Numerous groups say the impact on girls and women will be severe by waning support, especially in regions of instability. As the year ends, evidence indicates how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with millions more to come. Two other major donor nations proceed with parallel slashes. A director of a global justice organization says a choice to reduce international development funding is a gesture of alignment with another government's agenda.

Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit

In March, several conservative religious groups meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a strategic summit held concurrently with the annual UN Women gathering. It is an chance to exchange strategies on how to defeat the UN’s “radical agenda”. They are in buoyant mood as they celebrate shifts in US policy on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the world's top diplomat opens the gender equality forum with a somber alert that “the poison of patriarchy” is returning, after a report shows that opponents of gender equality are actively undermining established norms on key women’s rights issues around the world.

Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa

Over the warmer months, a sequence of gatherings in Africa themed around the conservative family structures and national independence triggers anxiety among equality campaigners. In May, a national leader and spouse open a major forum to resist what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A shortly thereafter, another Pan-African conference on conservative ethics is held. Both events are attended by leading American and European conservative activists, including heads of influential networks. One speaker calls on African NGOs to stand up to “radical global social engineering” of multilateral bodies. In June, a major religious institution hosts a family strengthening conference in the region, an event that health activists 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 depleting their stocks of family planning supplies, including post-rape care packages, the US announces in July plans to destroy a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a storage facility in Belgium. A leading family planning organization states that their destruction will deny a huge female population from contraceptive supplies, and lead to a surge in unplanned pregnancies and dangerous terminations. The organization labels the plan an dogmatic choice “about exporting a regressive policy worldwide” and “a deliberate form of reproductive oppression”. A international emergency medical charity calls it “cruel and irresponsible”. NGOs offer to buy the contraceptives so they can be distributed to those in need, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains in deadlock as the regional government refuse to permit the destruction of viable medicines.

‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded

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 the first month of the year. 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 include DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) projects. Further specifics about the expansion of the rule are anticipated next year. 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 negotiated with countries in Africa will become conditional on accepting the expanded global gag.