A year ago, groups dedicated to gender equality were preparing for a Trump presidency sequel. Scarcely anyone expected. The torrent and swiftness of executive orders originating in the White House were interpreted as a premeditated approach to overwhelm and create panic. The tactic proved effective – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as groups rushed to plug the hole left by a freeze on international development funds. But this was only the precursor.
The US administration has been the primary force, supported by fervent lobbying efforts by far-right organisations seizing the opportunity to forge international alliances with ideological partners.
Often termed the anti-gender movement refers to a global network of government figures, churches, and advocacy collectives as well as billionaire families and individuals that aim to roll back gains in a variety of areas. These include abortion, LGBTQ rights, trans rights, non-traditional family structures and comprehensive sexuality education.
They accomplish their goals by influencing policymakers, funding litigation, undermining global initiatives to advance equality, spreading disinformation, and funding non-profit organisations.
We look at five junctures that impacted the security, respect, and well-being of the female population.
USAID Effectively Dismantled
In early spring, a month and a half following a key American development organization is frozen, causing turmoil around the world, a senior US official states that the lion's share of the agency’s programmes will be eliminated. American foreign service officers, past leaders and aid and medical specialists denounce the action, stating that fatalities will ensue. Human rights advocates say that the closure of the organization is more than a funding crisis, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and family planning and reproductive care. Numerous groups say females will bear the brunt by reduced funding, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, statistics reveal how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Another pair of leading funders follow with their own cuts. A leader of an international advocacy group says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is an attempt to placate a powerful partner.
Conservative Religious Groups Lobby at UN Women Meeting
In the same month, several faith-based advocacy networks meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a strategic summit held concurrently with the international conference on women's rights. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to defeat the UN’s “radical agenda”. They are in high spirits as they celebrate changes in American foreign policy on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the women’s summit with a stark warning that “the poison of patriarchy” is back, after a report shows that anti-rights actors are systematically eroding longstanding consensus on fundamental freedoms for women around the world.
African ‘Family Values’ Conferences
Over the summer, a series of conferences in Africa themed around the conventional household and state autonomy raises concerns among human rights defenders. In May, a president and first lady 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 participated in by leading American and European conservative activists, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to stand up to “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of global institutions. In June, a global faith group hosts a family strengthening conference in the region, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Campaigners note that the scale of their presence has expanded considerably.
American Plan to Burn Birth Control
As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are depleting their stocks of family planning supplies, including prophylaxis for assault victims, the US announces in midsummer plans to dispose of a vast stockpile of birth control held in a storage facility in Belgium. A leading family planning organization states that their destruction will deny a huge female population from access to birth control, and lead to a public health crisis of unwanted pregnancies. The organization labels the plan an ideological decision “about forcing a conservative worldview globally” and “an intentional act of reproductive coercion”. A international emergency medical charity calls it “heartless and dangerous”. Charities attempt to acquire the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains in deadlock as host nation officials refuse to permit usable products to be destroyed.
Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy
Bringing back the anti-abortion funding ban, which prohibits Washington's support for groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is commonplace under 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 the autumn, the US announces it intends to extend the restrictions to include sovereign states and UN agencies in addition to NGOs, and to cover diversity programmes. Additional information regarding the broader enforcement are anticipated next year. A leader in global maternal health says extending the reach will have “unimaginable effects”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being negotiated with countries in Africa will become contingent upon adopting the expanded global gag.
