Five Critical Significant Developments in the Erosion of the Freedoms of Women and Girls in the Year 2025.

A year ago, feminist advocacy groups were anticipating a new Trump administration. Hardly anyone anticipated. The sheer number and rapid pace of presidential directives emanating from the White House were regarded as a deliberate tactic to cause confusion and fear. This strategy had its intended impact – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as organisations scrambled to address the shortfall left by a major funding freeze. But this was only the precursor.

The Washington leadership has been the main instigator, aided by vigorous campaigning by deeply conservative factions using the moment to forge international alliances with like-minded governments.

The anti-rights movement refers to a global network of political leaders, religious institutions, civil society groups as well as affluent financiers and clans that aim to roll back forward movement on multiple topics. Areas targeted involve reproductive choice, queer and transgender freedoms, diverse family models, and honest sex ed.

They pursue this agenda via pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to foster equity, propagating misinformation, and bankrolling sympathetic charities.

We examine five episodes that affected the welfare, autonomy, and survival of women and girls.

The Dismantling of USAID

In early spring, a month and a half following a major US aid agency is frozen, causing global disruption, a leading figure in the administration states that nearly all of the organization's initiatives will be axed. Career diplomats, former presidents and humanitarian and health experts condemn the news, cautioning that people will die as a result. Human rights advocates say that the demise of the agency is more than a funding crisis, it is a brutal assault on fundamental freedoms and family planning and reproductive care. Numerous groups say the impact on girls and women will be severe by shrinking assistance, especially in war zones. As the year ends, data shows 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. Two other major donor nations 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 alongside the annual UN Women gathering. It is an chance to exchange strategies on how to oppose what they term a UN overreach. They are in optimistic frame of mind as they applaud new Washington directives on gender, diversity and abortion. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the women’s summit with a stark warning that “the toxin of gendered hierarchy” is returning, after a analysis demonstrates that groups opposing progressive rights are actively undermining longstanding consensus on core aspects of gender equality around the world.

Summits Promoting Conservative Norms

Over the summer, a series of conferences in Africa centered on the conservative family structures and national independence raises concerns among equality campaigners. In May, a head of state and partner open a significant conference to push back on what they label criminal foreign forces eroding traditional family values. A shortly thereafter, another Pan-African conference on conservative ethics is held. Both events are attended by leading American and European conservative activists, including presidents of prominent organizations. One speaker urges African NGOs to push back against “radical global social engineering” of global institutions. In June, a major religious institution hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in an African nation, an event that pro-choice campaigners say has become an anti-LGBTQ, anti-gender platform. Advocates remark that the scale of their presence has increased markedly.

Contraceptive Destruction Order

As health facilities across Africa report they are running out of contraceptives, including prophylaxis for assault victims, the US announces in midsummer plans to dispose of millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a storage facility in Belgium. A leading family planning organization states that their elimination will deprive a huge female population from family planning options, 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 deliberate form of reproductive oppression”. 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 refuses all offers. The situation remains unresolved as host nation officials are blocking the destruction of viable medicines.

Broader Restrictions on Aid

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 standard practice for certain US administrations. It was anticipated when the ban was reimposed in January. The administration also signed onto a conservative consensus document. 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. Additional information regarding the policy's widened application are expected in early 2026. A expert in child welfare says broadening the policy will have “unimaginable effects”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that fresh American assistance deals being arranged with states on the continent will become contingent upon adopting the expanded global gag.