Five Significant Developments in the Rollback of the Rights of Women and Girls in the Past Year.

A year ago, groups dedicated to gender equality were anticipating a second Trump term. Hardly anyone anticipated. The sheer number and rapid pace of White House mandates emanating from the White House were interpreted as a intentional maneuver to cause confusion and fear. To a large extent, it succeeded – there was disarray, outrage, and weariness as networks struggled to fill the gap left by a abrupt cessation of financial support. But this merely marked the opening act.

The American government has been the key driver, supported by intense advocacy work by religious fundamentalist networks using the moment to build worldwide connections with ideological partners.

The anti-rights movement describes a worldwide alliance of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that seek to undermine progress across a wide spectrum of issues. This covers reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed.

They accomplish their goals by lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to advance equality, spreading disinformation, and funding non-profit organisations.

We examine five instances that affected the safety, dignity and lives of women and girls.

The Demise of a Major Aid Agency

In March, a month and a half following a key American development organization is its funds are blocked, causing widespread distress, a leading figure in the administration states that over eighty percent of the organization's initiatives will be axed. American foreign service officers, former presidents and aid and medical specialists criticize the move, stating that lives will be lost. Rights defenders say that the closure of the organization is not just a financial shortfall, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and birth control and maternal healthcare. A multitude of agencies say females will bear the brunt by shrinking assistance, especially in regions of instability. 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. Additional key contributing countries initiate similar reductions. A leader of an international advocacy group says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is a move to appease a political ally.

Faith-Based Activists Mobilize at UN Conference

In March, several conservative religious groups meet in an luxury Manhattan venue for a biannual gathering held alongside the international conference on women's rights. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to counter the UN's progressive policies. They are in buoyant mood as they applaud changes in American foreign policy on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the global conference with a stark warning that “the poison of patriarchy” is back, after a study indicates that anti-rights actors are systematically eroding longstanding consensus on core aspects of gender equality around the world.

African ‘Family Values’ Conferences

Over the summer, a series of conferences in Africa centered on the traditional family and national sovereignty sparks alarm among equality campaigners. In 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 soon after, another regional summit on traditional morals is held. Both events are participated in by leading Western campaigners against gender ideology, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker urges African NGOs to push back against “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of multilateral bodies. In June, a global faith group hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in an African nation, an event that health activists say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Activists observe that the extent of foreign involvement has grown significantly.

US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives

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 midsummer plans to dispose of a vast stockpile of birth control held in a European depot. A leading family planning organization states that their incineration will prevent a huge female population from family planning options, and lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The organization labels the plan an politically-motivated move “about exporting a regressive policy worldwide” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “callous and reckless”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can be distributed to those in need, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains unresolved as local authorities refuse to permit usable products to be destroyed.

‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded

Reviving the global gag rule, which halts US aid to groups that offer, promote, or give information about 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 signed onto a conservative consensus document. But in the autumn, the US announces it intends to expand the global gag rule to include governments and multilateral organisations in addition to NGOs, and to encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. Further specifics about the policy's widened application are expected in early 2026. A expert in child welfare says widening the scope will have “unimaginable effects”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that fresh American assistance deals being discussed with African nations will become dependent on agreeing to the expanded global gag.