Five Major Landmark Occurrences in the Attack on the Rights of Females in the Year 2025.

Twelve months prior, organisations advocating for women's rights were anticipating a return of Donald Trump to office. Few were prepared for. The volume and speed of executive orders coming out of the White House were regarded as a intentional maneuver to cause confusion and fear. In many ways it worked – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as groups rushed to fill the gap left by a abrupt cessation of financial support. But this merely marked the opening act.

The Washington leadership has been the main instigator, bolstered by relentless activism by ultra-conservative groups capitalizing on the climate to strengthen global ties with like-minded governments.

The anti-rights movement refers to a global network of elected officials, faith-based bodies, non-governmental organisations as well as affluent financiers and clans that seek to undermine forward movement on multiple topics. Areas targeted involve reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed.

They do this by influencing policymakers, funding litigation, undermining global initiatives to foster equity, propagating misinformation, and bankrolling sympathetic charities.

We look at five junctures that affected the security, respect, and well-being of women and girls.

The Dismantling of USAID

In March, a month and a half following a prominent humanitarian funder is frozen, causing global disruption, a leading figure in the administration announces that a vast majority of the organization's initiatives will be axed. US diplomats, past leaders and aid and medical specialists denounce the action, stating that people will die as a result. Activists say that the demise of the agency is greater than a budgetary issue, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and birth control and maternal healthcare. Many organisations say the impact on girls and women will be severe by shrinking assistance, especially in war zones. As the year ends, evidence indicates how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from illness, famine, inadequate obstetric services, and violence against women, with a far greater catastrophe looming. Another pair of leading funders proceed with parallel slashes. A director of a global justice organization says a decision to slash billions in overseas assistance is a move to appease a political ally.

Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit

In the same month, several faith-based advocacy networks meet in an luxury Manhattan venue for a two-day conference held concurrently with the annual UN Women gathering. It is an opportunity to share tactics on how to oppose what they term a UN overreach. They are in high spirits as they celebrate changes in American foreign policy on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the gender equality forum with a grave caution that “the poison of patriarchy” is back, after a study indicates that anti-rights actors are deliberately weakening established norms on core aspects of gender equality around the world.

African ‘Family Values’ Conferences

Over the summer, a cluster of meetings in Africa centered on the traditional family and national sovereignty raises concerns among human rights defenders. In May, a national leader and spouse open a major forum to combat what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A shortly thereafter, another continental gathering on traditional morals is held. Both events are graced by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including heads of influential networks. One speaker exhorts African NGOs to stand up to “worldwide progressive social restructuring” of international organizations. In the following month, a global faith group hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in the region, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Advocates remark that the level of external participation has grown significantly.

US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives

As health facilities across Africa report they are facing shortages of birth control, including emergency kits for survivors of sexual violence, the US announces in midsummer plans to incinerate millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a warehouse in Europe. A leading family planning organization states that their elimination will deprive a huge female population from contraceptive supplies, and lead to a surge in unplanned pregnancies and dangerous terminations. The organization labels the plan an politically-motivated move “about imposing an anti-rights agenda on the entire world” and “an intentional act of reproductive coercion”. 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 rejects each bid. The situation remains unresolved as host nation officials will not allow the destruction of viable medicines.

Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy

Reinstating the Mexico City Policy, which cuts American funding for groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is standard practice for certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the rule was reinstated in January. The administration also rejoined an international anti-abortion agreement. 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 policy's widened application are expected in early 2026. A director of a major health partnership says extending the reach will have “devastating consequences”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being arranged with states on the continent will become conditional on accepting the broadened restrictions.