A Quintet of Key Moments in the Attack on the Freedoms of Women and Girls in the Year 2025.

In the previous year, women’s rights organisations were bracing themselves for a second Trump term. Few were prepared for. The torrent and swiftness of White House mandates coming out of the White House were interpreted as a premeditated approach to paralyze through overload. The tactic proved effective – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as groups rushed to plug the hole left by a sudden aid suspension. But that was just the beginning.

The US administration has been the central catalyst, complemented by vigorous campaigning by deeply conservative factions exploiting the situation to strengthen global ties with ideological partners.

Often termed the anti-gender movement signifies a transnational grouping of policymakers, doctrinal establishments, and activist outfits as well as affluent financiers and clans that strive to weaken progress across a wide spectrum of issues. This encompasses access to termination, gay and trans protections, alternative households, and factual sexual instruction.

They achieve this through lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups.

We examine five moments that shaped the safety, dignity and lives of the female population.

The Dismantling of USAID

In early spring, shortly after a prominent humanitarian funder is suspended, causing global disruption, a top American diplomat reveals that nearly all of the body's projects will be terminated. American foreign service officers, ex-presidents and relief and public health authorities criticize the move, warning that people will die as a result. Human rights advocates say that the dismantling of this institution is greater than a budgetary issue, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and family planning and reproductive care. Numerous groups say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by shrinking assistance, especially in war zones. 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. Additional key contributing countries follow with their own cuts. A leader of an international advocacy group says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is an attempt to placate a powerful partner.

Faith-Based Activists Mobilize at UN Conference

In March, several faith-based advocacy networks meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a biannual gathering held in parallel with the international conference on women's rights. It is an chance to exchange strategies on how to defeat the UN’s “radical agenda”. They are in buoyant mood as they applaud 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 grave caution that “the toxin of gendered hierarchy” is resurgent, after a report shows that anti-rights actors are actively undermining historic agreements on fundamental freedoms for women around the world.

Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa

Over the warmer months, a series of conferences in Africa themed around the traditional family and national sovereignty sparks alarm among rights advocates. In the start of May, a president and first lady open a significant conference to combat what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A shortly thereafter, another continental gathering on family values is held. Both events are graced by leading American and European conservative activists, including heads of influential networks. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to push back against “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of international organizations. In June, a global faith group hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in the region, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Campaigners note 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 incinerate a vast stockpile of birth control held in a European depot. A major reproductive health federation states that their elimination will deprive countless females from family planning options, and lead to a public health crisis of unwanted pregnancies. The organization labels the plan an dogmatic choice “about exporting a regressive policy worldwide” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A prominent medical humanitarian organization calls it “cruel and irresponsible”. Charities attempt to acquire the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US declines every proposal. The situation remains at a standstill as host nation officials are blocking the destruction of viable medicines.

Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy

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 was anticipated when the rule was reinstated in January. The administration also signed onto a conservative consensus document. But in October, the US announces it intends to extend the restrictions to include sovereign states and UN agencies in addition to NGOs, and to include DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) projects. Additional information regarding the broader enforcement are expected in early 2026. A leader in global maternal health says broadening the policy will have “unimaginable effects”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being negotiated with countries in Africa will become dependent on agreeing to the new, wider policy.