Five Key Moments in the Attack on the Rights of Females in 2025.
In the previous year, organisations advocating for women's rights were steeling themselves against a Trump presidency sequel. Hardly anyone anticipated. The volume and speed of White House mandates originating in the White House were regarded as a intentional maneuver to paralyze through overload. The tactic proved effective – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as agencies hastened to compensate for the loss left by a sudden aid suspension. But this merely marked the opening act.
The Trump administration has been the primary force, aided by intense advocacy work by deeply conservative factions using the moment to solidify transnational relationships with like-minded governments.
This opposition to progressive rights denotes an international coalition of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as wealthy philanthropists and dynasties that aim to roll back progress across a wide spectrum of issues. This encompasses reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed.
They pursue this agenda via pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups.
We examine five moments that affected the security, respect, and well-being of women and girls.
The Demise of a Major Aid Agency
In early spring, shortly after a major US aid agency is frozen, causing international chaos, a leading figure in the administration announces that a vast majority of the institution's work will be scrapped. US diplomats, ex-presidents and aid and medical specialists condemn the news, stating that lives will be lost. Activists say that the dismantling of this institution is more than a funding crisis, 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 shrinking assistance, especially in war zones. As the year ends, data shows how a tremendous loss of life has already occurred from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with many more millions at risk. Additional key contributing countries 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 upmarket New York hotel for a two-day conference held alongside the annual UN Women gathering. It is an chance to exchange strategies on how to defeat the UN’s “radical agenda”. They are in optimistic frame of mind as they celebrate shifts in US policy on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the gender equality forum with a somber alert that “the poison of patriarchy” is resurgent, after a report shows that anti-rights actors are actively undermining historic agreements on core aspects of gender equality around the world.
African ‘Family Values’ Conferences
Over the summer, a cluster of meetings in Africa themed around the traditional family and national sovereignty triggers anxiety among human rights defenders. In May, a president and first lady open a major forum to combat what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A few days later, another continental gathering on conservative ethics is held. Both events are graced by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker calls on African NGOs to resist “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 reproductive rights advocates say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Campaigners note that the scale of their presence 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 emergency kits for survivors of sexual violence, the US announces in July plans to destroy millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a storage facility in Belgium. A global sexual health network states that their destruction will deny a huge female population from family planning options, 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 calculated move to control fertility”. A renowned doctors' group calls it “heartless and dangerous”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can be distributed to those in need, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains in deadlock as local authorities refuse to permit usable products to be destroyed.
‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded
Bringing back the anti-abortion funding ban, which halts US aid to groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is standard practice for certain US administrations. It came as no surprise when the ban was reimposed in the first month of the year. The administration also reaffirmed membership in a pro-life declaration. But in October, the US announces it intends to broaden the scope of the policy to include sovereign states and UN agencies in addition to NGOs, and to encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. More details on the policy's widened application are expected in early 2026. A director of a major health partnership says widening the scope will have “devastating consequences”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being negotiated with countries in Africa will become contingent upon adopting the broadened restrictions.
