Five Defining Pivotal Events in the Erosion of the Rights of Females in This Past Year.
A year ago, groups dedicated to gender equality were anticipating a new Trump administration. Hardly anyone anticipated. The flood and velocity of executive orders originating in the White House were seen as a deliberate tactic to overwhelm and create panic. In many ways it worked – there was disarray, outrage, and weariness as agencies hastened to address the shortfall left by a sudden aid suspension. But that was just the beginning.
The Washington leadership has been the main instigator, complemented by fervent lobbying efforts by far-right organisations exploiting the situation to strengthen global ties with sympathetic regimes.
The anti-rights movement signifies a transnational grouping of government figures, churches, and advocacy collectives as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that work to dismantle progress across a wide spectrum of issues. Areas targeted involve 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 foster equity, propagating misinformation, and bankrolling sympathetic charities.
We review five episodes that shaped the safety, dignity and lives of the female population.
USAID Dismantled
In March, six weeks after a key American development organization is its funds are blocked, causing widespread distress, a top American diplomat reveals that nearly all of the institution's work will be scrapped. US diplomats, past leaders and humanitarian and health experts condemn the news, stating that fatalities will ensue. Activists say that the dismantling of this institution is more than a funding crisis, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and access to contraception and reproductive health services. Numerous groups say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by diminishing aid, especially in conflict areas. 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 a far greater catastrophe looming. Another pair of leading funders initiate similar reductions. A head of a worldwide campaign network says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is a move to appease a political ally.
Faith-Based Activists Mobilize at UN Conference
In the same month, several conservative religious groups meet in an high-end hotel in NYC for a two-day conference held concurrently with the annual UN Women gathering. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to defeat the UN’s “radical agenda”. They are in optimistic frame of mind as they applaud new Washington directives on gender, diversity and abortion. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the global conference with a somber alert that “the toxin of gendered hierarchy” is returning, after a study indicates that anti-rights actors are systematically eroding 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 centered on the conservative family structures and national independence sparks alarm among equality campaigners. In the start of May, a head of state and partner open a major forum to combat what they label external influences undermining local norms. A few days later, another Pan-African conference on traditional morals is held. Both events are attended 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 multilateral bodies. In June, a global faith group hosts a family strengthening conference in an African nation, an event that reproductive rights advocates say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Activists observe that the scale of their presence has expanded considerably.
Contraceptive Destruction Order
As clinics in sub-Saharan Africa report they are facing shortages of birth control, including prophylaxis for assault victims, the US announces in midsummer plans to destroy a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a storage facility in Belgium. A leading family planning organization states that their destruction will deny countless females from family planning options, and lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The organization labels the plan an politically-motivated move “about forcing a conservative worldview globally” and “an intentional act of reproductive coercion”. A international emergency medical charity calls it “callous and reckless”. Aid groups propose purchasing the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains in deadlock as local authorities are blocking usable products to be destroyed.
Broader Restrictions on Aid
Bringing back the anti-abortion funding ban, which cuts American funding 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 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 national governments and international bodies in addition to NGOs, and to cover diversity programmes. Additional information regarding the expansion of the rule are likely forthcoming. A director of a major health partnership says extending the reach will have “unimaginable effects”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being arranged with states on the continent will become dependent on agreeing to the expanded global gag.
