đ Share this article A Quintet of Landmark Occurrences in the Challenge to the Rights of Females in This Past Year. In the previous year, organisations advocating for women's rights were anticipating a new Trump administration. Few were prepared for. The torrent and swiftness of White House mandates issued from the White House were viewed as a premeditated approach to cause confusion and fear. In many ways it worked â there was bewilderment, fury, and fatigue as agencies hastened to fill the gap left by a freeze on international development funds. But this was only the precursor. The Trump administration has been the primary force, supported by intense advocacy work by religious fundamentalist networks seizing the opportunity to strengthen global ties with ideological partners. The movement against gender equality denotes an international coalition of government figures, churches, and advocacy collectives as well as billionaire families and individuals that aim to roll back progress across a wide spectrum of issues. Areas targeted involve pro-choice policies, equality for sexual minorities, gender identity recognition, and inclusive relationship teaching. They pursue this agenda via pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups. We review five junctures that affected the welfare, autonomy, and survival of women and girls. The Dismantling of USAID In March, shortly after a prominent humanitarian funder is frozen, causing international chaos, a top American diplomat announces that a vast majority of the organization's initiatives will be axed. Career diplomats, ex-presidents and aid and medical specialists denounce the action, cautioning that lives will be lost. Human rights advocates say that the dismantling of this institution is not just a financial shortfall, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and family planning and reproductive care. Numerous groups say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by reduced funding, especially in war zones. As the year ends, data shows how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with millions more to come. Two other major donor nations announce their own austerity measures. A head of a worldwide campaign network says a choice to reduce international development funding is a gesture of alignment with another government's agenda. Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit In March, several Christian-right organisations meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a biannual gathering held concurrently with the international conference on women's rights. It is an chance to exchange strategies on how to oppose what they term a UN overreach. They are in high spirits as they celebrate shifts in US policy on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the gender equality forum with a stark warning that âthe toxin of gendered hierarchyâ is resurgent, after a report shows that anti-rights actors are deliberately weakening established norms on key womenâs rights issues around the world. African âFamily Valuesâ Conferences Over the warmer months, a series of conferences in Africa themed around the traditional family and national sovereignty sparks alarm among human rights defenders. In early May, a national leader and spouse open a major forum to combat what they label criminal foreign forces eroding traditional family values. A soon after, another regional summit on family values is held. Both events are participated in by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker urges African NGOs to stand up to âworldwide progressive social restructuringâ 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 a forum for opposing queer and trans rights. Campaigners note that the level of external participation has increased markedly. American Plan to Burn Birth Control As health facilities across Africa report they are running out of contraceptives, including emergency kits for survivors of sexual violence, the US announces in July plans to destroy a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a warehouse in Europe. A global sexual health network states that their destruction will deny 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 politically-motivated move âabout imposing an anti-rights agenda on the entire worldâ and âa deliberate form of reproductive oppressionâ. A renowned doctors' group calls it âheartless and dangerousâ. Charities attempt to acquire the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains unresolved as host nation officials are blocking usable products to be destroyed. âGlobal Gag Ruleâ Expanded Bringing back the anti-abortion funding ban, 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 national governments and international bodies in addition to NGOs, and to cover diversity programmes. Additional information regarding the expansion of the rule are anticipated next year. A leader in global maternal health says broadening the policy will have âcatastrophic impactsâ. Pro-choice activists fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being arranged with states on the continent will become conditional on accepting the new, wider policy.
In the previous year, organisations advocating for women's rights were anticipating a new Trump administration. Few were prepared for. The torrent and swiftness of White House mandates issued from the White House were viewed as a premeditated approach to cause confusion and fear. In many ways it worked â there was bewilderment, fury, and fatigue as agencies hastened to fill the gap left by a freeze on international development funds. But this was only the precursor. The Trump administration has been the primary force, supported by intense advocacy work by religious fundamentalist networks seizing the opportunity to strengthen global ties with ideological partners. The movement against gender equality denotes an international coalition of government figures, churches, and advocacy collectives as well as billionaire families and individuals that aim to roll back progress across a wide spectrum of issues. Areas targeted involve pro-choice policies, equality for sexual minorities, gender identity recognition, and inclusive relationship teaching. They pursue this agenda via pressuring states, backing lawsuits, disparaging UN work to push for parity, disseminating propaganda, and supporting ideologically-matched groups. We review five junctures that affected the welfare, autonomy, and survival of women and girls. The Dismantling of USAID In March, shortly after a prominent humanitarian funder is frozen, causing international chaos, a top American diplomat announces that a vast majority of the organization's initiatives will be axed. Career diplomats, ex-presidents and aid and medical specialists denounce the action, cautioning that lives will be lost. Human rights advocates say that the dismantling of this institution is not just a financial shortfall, it is a vicious offensive against basic liberties and family planning and reproductive care. Numerous groups say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by reduced funding, especially in war zones. As the year ends, data shows how hundreds of thousands of people have already died from disease, starvation, lack of access to maternal care and gender-based violence, with millions more to come. Two other major donor nations announce their own austerity measures. A head of a worldwide campaign network says a choice to reduce international development funding is a gesture of alignment with another government's agenda. Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit In March, several Christian-right organisations meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a biannual gathering held concurrently with the international conference on women's rights. It is an chance to exchange strategies on how to oppose what they term a UN overreach. They are in high spirits as they celebrate shifts in US policy on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the UN secretary general opens the gender equality forum with a stark warning that âthe toxin of gendered hierarchyâ is resurgent, after a report shows that anti-rights actors are deliberately weakening established norms on key womenâs rights issues around the world. African âFamily Valuesâ Conferences Over the warmer months, a series of conferences in Africa themed around the traditional family and national sovereignty sparks alarm among human rights defenders. In early May, a national leader and spouse open a major forum to combat what they label criminal foreign forces eroding traditional family values. A soon after, another regional summit on family values is held. Both events are participated in by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker urges African NGOs to stand up to âworldwide progressive social restructuringâ 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 a forum for opposing queer and trans rights. Campaigners note that the level of external participation has increased markedly. American Plan to Burn Birth Control As health facilities across Africa report they are running out of contraceptives, including emergency kits for survivors of sexual violence, the US announces in July plans to destroy a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a warehouse in Europe. A global sexual health network states that their destruction will deny 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 politically-motivated move âabout imposing an anti-rights agenda on the entire worldâ and âa deliberate form of reproductive oppressionâ. A renowned doctors' group calls it âheartless and dangerousâ. Charities attempt to acquire the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US refuses all offers. The situation remains unresolved as host nation officials are blocking usable products to be destroyed. âGlobal Gag Ruleâ Expanded Bringing back the anti-abortion funding ban, 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 national governments and international bodies in addition to NGOs, and to cover diversity programmes. Additional information regarding the expansion of the rule are anticipated next year. A leader in global maternal health says broadening the policy will have âcatastrophic impactsâ. Pro-choice activists fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being arranged with states on the continent will become conditional on accepting the new, wider policy.