Five Defining Crucial Incidents in the Rollback of the Rights of Females in the Past Year.
Twelve months prior, women’s rights organisations were preparing for a return of Donald Trump to office. Scarcely anyone expected. The torrent and swiftness of presidential directives emanating from the White House were seen as a premeditated approach to induce a state of shock. In many ways it worked – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as agencies hastened to address the shortfall left by a freeze on international development funds. But the situation was about to worsen.
The Washington leadership has been the central catalyst, supported by vigorous campaigning by deeply conservative factions capitalizing on the climate to solidify transnational relationships with like-minded governments.
This opposition to progressive rights describes a worldwide alliance of government figures, churches, and advocacy collectives as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that aim to roll back progress across a wide spectrum of issues. These include abortion, LGBTQ rights, trans rights, non-traditional family structures and comprehensive sexuality education.
They achieve this through advocating to officials, financing legal challenges, sabotaging multilateral work to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups.
We look at five junctures that impacted the security, respect, and well-being of the female population.
The Dismantling of USAID
In early spring, a month and a half following a key American development organization is suspended, causing widespread distress, a senior US official confirms that a vast majority of the body's projects will be terminated. US diplomats, ex-presidents and relief and public health authorities decry the decision, warning that people will die as a result. Human rights advocates say that the dismantling of this institution is more than a funding crisis, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and access to contraception and reproductive health services. Numerous groups say females will bear the brunt by diminishing aid, especially in war zones. As the year ends, statistics reveal how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from illness, famine, inadequate obstetric services, and violence against women, with many more millions at risk. Two other major donor nations proceed with parallel slashes. A leader of an international advocacy group says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is a move to appease a political ally.
Conservative Religious Groups Lobby at UN Women Meeting
In the same month, several Christian-right organisations meet in an luxury Manhattan venue for a two-day conference held in parallel with the annual UN Women gathering. It is an chance to exchange strategies on how to counter the UN's progressive policies. They are in buoyant mood as they welcome changes in American foreign policy on gender, diversity and abortion. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the global conference with a somber alert that “the toxin of gendered hierarchy” is returning, after a report shows that anti-rights actors are systematically eroding historic agreements on fundamental freedoms for women around the world.
African ‘Family Values’ Conferences
Over the warmer months, a cluster of meetings in Africa focused on the traditional family and national sovereignty raises concerns among equality campaigners. In early May, a head of state and partner open a large assembly to push back on what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A few days later, another continental gathering on conservative ethics is held. Both events are participated in by leading American and European conservative activists, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker urges African NGOs to resist “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of international organizations. In June, a global faith group hosts a family strengthening conference in West Africa, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become a stage for criticizing gender equality. Campaigners note that the scale of their presence has expanded considerably.
US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives
As medical centers in numerous African countries report they are running out of contraceptives, including emergency kits for survivors of sexual violence, the US announces in midsummer plans to dispose of millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a storage facility in Belgium. A major reproductive health federation states that their elimination will deprive millions of women and girls from contraceptive supplies, and lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The organization labels the plan an dogmatic choice “about forcing a conservative worldview globally” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A renowned doctors' group calls it “heartless and dangerous”. Charities attempt to acquire the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US declines every proposal. The situation remains in deadlock as local authorities are blocking the destruction of viable medicines.
Broader Restrictions on Aid
Reinstating the Mexico City Policy, 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 policy was restored in the first month of the year. The administration also rejoined an international anti-abortion agreement. But in the autumn, the US announces it intends to broaden the scope of the policy to include governments and multilateral organisations in addition to NGOs, and to encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. Further specifics about the broader enforcement are likely forthcoming. A leader in global maternal health says widening the scope will have “devastating consequences”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being arranged with states on the continent will become contingent upon adopting the expanded global gag.
