Five Pivotal Events in the Erosion of the Rights of Women and Girls in 2025.

Twelve months prior, groups dedicated to gender equality were preparing for a new Trump administration. Hardly anyone anticipated. The volume and speed of presidential directives coming out of the White House were interpreted as a intentional maneuver to paralyze through overload. In many ways it worked – there was chaos, resentment, and burnout as agencies hastened to fill the gap left by a abrupt cessation of financial support. But that was just the beginning.

The American government has been the key driver, aided by intense advocacy work by deeply conservative factions capitalizing on the climate to solidify transnational relationships with political allies.

This opposition to progressive rights describes a worldwide alliance of political leaders, religious institutions, civil society groups as well as ultra-rich backers and donors that work to dismantle 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 advocating to officials, financing legal challenges, sabotaging multilateral work to foster equity, propagating misinformation, and bankrolling sympathetic charities.

We review five moments 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 its funds are blocked, causing turmoil around the world, a leading figure in the administration reveals that the lion's share of the body's projects will be terminated. US diplomats, past leaders and relief and public health authorities condemn the news, stating that lives will be lost. Rights defenders say that the dismantling of this institution is greater than a budgetary issue, it is a savage attack on human rights and access to contraception and reproductive health services. Numerous groups say females will bear the brunt by diminishing aid, 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 many more millions at risk. Additional key contributing countries initiate similar reductions. A director of a global justice organization says a move to cut foreign aid drastically is a gesture of alignment with another government's agenda.

Christian-Right Groups Raise Voices During UN Women Summit

In the same month, several faith-based advocacy networks meet in an upmarket New York hotel for a two-day conference held alongside the international conference on women's rights. It is an forum to discuss methods on how to counter the UN's progressive policies. They are in buoyant mood as they applaud changes in American foreign policy on social issues and termination of pregnancy. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations opens the gender equality forum with a somber alert that “the toxin of gendered hierarchy” is back, after a report shows that opponents of gender equality are deliberately weakening established norms on fundamental freedoms for women around the world.

Summits Promoting Conservative Norms

Over the summer, a series of conferences in Africa themed around the conservative family structures and national independence sparks alarm among equality campaigners. In early May, a head of state and partner open a significant conference to combat what they label overseas agendas corrupting societal morals. A few days later, another continental gathering on conservative ethics is held. Both events are attended by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including leaders of well-known groups. One speaker calls on African NGOs to stand up to “international liberal agenda” of international organizations. In the following month, a global faith group hosts a gathering about supporting traditional households in an African nation, an event that health activists say has become a forum for opposing queer and trans rights. Activists observe that the extent of foreign involvement has increased markedly.

US Threat to Destroy Contraceptives

As health facilities across Africa report they are running out of contraceptives, including prophylaxis for assault victims, the US announces in July plans to incinerate millions of dollars worth of contraceptives held in a storage facility in Belgium. A leading family planning organization states that their elimination will deprive millions of women and girls from family planning options, and lead to a surge in unplanned pregnancies and dangerous terminations. The organization labels the plan an dogmatic choice “about imposing an anti-rights agenda on the entire world” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A international emergency medical charity 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 at a standstill as local authorities refuse to permit 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 came as no surprise when the policy was restored in the first month of the year. The administration also signed onto a conservative consensus document. But in October, the US announces it intends to broaden the scope of the policy to include governments and multilateral organisations in addition to NGOs, and to include DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) projects. Further specifics about the broader enforcement are expected in early 2026. A expert in child welfare says widening the scope will have “devastating consequences”. Advocates for bodily autonomy fear that new US aid packages being arranged with states on the continent will become conditional on accepting the expanded global gag.