Five Major Key Moments in the Assault on the Freedoms of Women and Girls in the Past Year.
In the previous year, groups dedicated to gender equality were steeling themselves against a Trump presidency sequel. The ensuing chaos was largely unforeseen. The torrent and swiftness of presidential directives coming out of the White House were regarded as a calculated strategy to cause confusion and fear. In many ways it worked – there was disarray, outrage, and weariness as agencies hastened to compensate for the loss left by a abrupt cessation of financial support. But this merely marked the opening act.
The Trump administration has been the central catalyst, bolstered by relentless activism by deeply conservative factions seizing the opportunity to forge international alliances with political allies.
The anti-rights movement describes a worldwide alliance of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as billionaire families and individuals that seek to undermine forward movement on multiple topics. Areas targeted involve access to termination, gay and trans protections, alternative households, and factual sexual instruction.
They do this by lobbying governments, supporting court cases, discrediting international efforts to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups.
We examine five junctures that affected 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 widespread distress, a top American diplomat states that over eighty percent of the institution's work will be scrapped. American foreign service officers, ex-presidents and aid and medical specialists denounce the action, stating that mortality will increase. Activists say that the dismantling of this institution is more than a funding crisis, it is a savage attack on human rights and birth control and maternal healthcare. Many organisations say females will bear the brunt by reduced funding, especially in conflict areas. As the year ends, data shows how a tremendous loss of life has already occurred from illness, famine, inadequate obstetric services, and violence against women, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Another pair of leading funders announce their own austerity measures. 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 the same month, several Christian-right organisations meet in an luxury Manhattan venue for a biannual gathering held alongside the annual UN Women gathering. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to defeat the UN’s “radical agenda”. They are in high spirits as they welcome new Washington directives on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the world's top diplomat opens the global conference with a stark warning that “the poison of patriarchy” is returning, after a analysis demonstrates that opponents of gender equality are actively undermining established norms on fundamental freedoms for women around the world.
Conferences on Traditional Values in Africa
Over the warmer months, a sequence of gatherings in Africa themed around the conventional household and state autonomy raises concerns among human rights defenders. In early May, a national leader and spouse open a significant conference to combat what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A few days later, another Pan-African conference on traditional morals is held. Both events are graced by leading Western campaigners against gender ideology, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker urges African NGOs to push back against “radical global social engineering” of international organizations. In the following month, a major religious institution hosts a family strengthening conference in West Africa, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Activists observe that the scale of their presence has grown significantly.
American Plan to Burn Birth Control
As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are running out of contraceptives, including prophylaxis for assault victims, the US announces in midsummer plans to dispose of a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a warehouse in Europe. A major reproductive health federation states that their incineration will prevent a huge female population from access to birth control, and lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The organization labels the plan an dogmatic choice “about exporting a regressive policy worldwide” and “an intentional act of reproductive coercion”. A renowned doctors' group calls it “cruel and irresponsible”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can be distributed to those in need, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains in deadlock as the regional government will not allow perfectly good supplies to be incinerated.
Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy
Reviving the global gag rule, which halts US aid to groups that provide, advocate for or advise on abortion services overseas, is typical of certain US administrations. It was widely expected when the policy was restored in January. The administration also reaffirmed membership in a pro-life declaration. But in the autumn, the US announces it intends to broaden the scope of the policy to include sovereign states and UN agencies in addition to NGOs, and to encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. Additional information regarding the expansion of the rule are anticipated next year. A expert in child welfare says broadening the policy will have “catastrophic impacts”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that fresh American assistance deals being arranged with states on the continent will become dependent on agreeing to the expanded global gag.
