Five Defining Crucial Incidents in the Erosion of the Rights of Women and Girls in This Past Year.

In the previous year, organisations advocating for women's rights were steeling themselves against a return of Donald Trump to office. Scarcely anyone expected. The volume and speed of administrative decrees issued from the White House were viewed as a intentional maneuver to cause confusion and fear. This strategy had its intended impact – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as groups rushed to fill the gap left by a major funding freeze. But this merely marked the opening act.

The American government has been the central catalyst, bolstered by intense advocacy work by far-right organisations using the moment to build worldwide connections with sympathetic regimes.

The anti-rights movement denotes an international coalition of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that strive to weaken forward movement on multiple topics. These include reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed.

They achieve this through lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to foster equity, propagating misinformation, and bankrolling sympathetic charities.

We look at five moments that impacted the safety, dignity and lives of the female population.

USAID Dismantled

In the month of March, a month and a half following a major US aid agency is its funds are blocked, causing international chaos, a leading figure in the administration states that a vast majority of the body's projects will be terminated. Career diplomats, past leaders and relief and public health authorities decry the decision, predicting that mortality will increase. Activists say that the demise of the agency is greater than a budgetary issue, it is a savage attack on human rights and access to contraception and reproductive health services. Many organisations say the impact on girls and women will be severe by shrinking assistance, especially in regions of instability. As the year ends, data shows how a tremendous loss of life has already occurred from sickness, hunger, poor pregnancy healthcare, and abuse targeting females, with millions more to come. Two other major donor nations initiate similar reductions. A head of a worldwide campaign network says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is a move to appease a political ally.

Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit

In the same month, several conservative religious groups meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a two-day conference held concurrently with the annual UN Women gathering. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to counter the UN's progressive policies. They are in optimistic frame of mind as they welcome changes in American foreign policy on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the global conference with a stark warning that “the venom of male dominance” is back, after a analysis demonstrates that groups opposing progressive rights are systematically eroding longstanding consensus on core aspects of gender equality around the world.

Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa

Over the warmer months, a sequence of gatherings in Africa themed around the traditional family and national sovereignty raises concerns among rights advocates. In early May, a president and first lady open a major forum to push back on what they label criminal foreign forces eroding traditional family values. A soon after, another Pan-African conference on traditional morals is held. Both events are attended by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker urges African NGOs to resist “international liberal agenda” of multilateral bodies. In June, a prominent church hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in West Africa, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. 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 prophylaxis for assault victims, the US announces in July plans to dispose of a vast stockpile of birth control held in a European depot. A major reproductive health federation states that their elimination will deprive a huge female population from family planning options, and lead to a public health crisis of unwanted pregnancies. The organization labels the plan an politically-motivated move “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 declines every proposal. The situation remains at a standstill as host nation officials are blocking usable products to be destroyed.

‘Global Gag Rule’ Expanded

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 typical of certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the ban was reimposed 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 national governments and international bodies in addition to NGOs, and to include DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) projects. More details on the broader enforcement are expected in early 2026. A leader in global maternal health says widening the scope will have “unimaginable effects”. Pro-choice activists fear that new US aid packages being negotiated with countries in Africa will become conditional on accepting the expanded global gag.