Five Major Landmark Occurrences in the Rollback of the Rights of Females in 2025.

In the previous year, groups dedicated to gender equality were steeling themselves against a Trump presidency sequel. Hardly anyone anticipated. The sheer number and rapid pace of White House mandates coming out of the White House were interpreted as a intentional maneuver to cause confusion and fear. In many ways it worked – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as organisations scrambled to plug the hole left by a freeze on international development funds. But this was only the precursor.

The US administration has been the main instigator, aided by intense advocacy work by ultra-conservative groups using the moment to forge international alliances with political allies.

The movement against gender equality refers to a global network of political leaders, religious institutions, civil society groups as well as wealthy philanthropists and dynasties that work to dismantle gains in a variety of areas. These include abortion, LGBTQ rights, trans rights, non-traditional family structures and comprehensive sexuality education.

They do this by influencing policymakers, funding litigation, undermining global initiatives to promote fairness, circulating falsehoods, and resourcing aligned NGOs.

We look at five moments that impacted the safety, dignity and lives of the female population.

USAID Effectively Dismantled

In March, six weeks after a major US aid agency is suspended, causing widespread distress, a leading figure in the administration announces that nearly all of the agency’s programmes will be eliminated. US diplomats, past leaders and humanitarian and health experts condemn the news, predicting that fatalities will ensue. Rights defenders say that the dismantling of this institution is more than a funding crisis, it is a savage attack on human rights and family planning and reproductive care. A multitude of agencies say women and girls will be disproportionately affected by waning support, especially in war zones. As the year ends, reports confirm how a significant mortality toll has been exacted from illness, famine, inadequate obstetric services, and violence against women, with a far greater catastrophe looming. 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 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 strategic summit 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 celebrate changes in American foreign policy on LGBTQ issues, inclusion, and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the world's top diplomat opens the gender equality forum with a somber alert that “the venom of male dominance” is resurgent, after a report shows that anti-rights actors are deliberately weakening established norms on core aspects of gender equality around the world.

African ‘Family Values’ Conferences

Over the warmer months, a series of conferences in Africa focused on the conventional household and state autonomy sparks alarm among human rights defenders. In the start of May, a head of state and partner open a significant conference to resist what they label external influences undermining local norms. A shortly thereafter, another Pan-African conference on traditional morals is held. Both events are attended by leading US and European anti-rights figures, including heads of influential networks. One speaker calls on African NGOs to stand up to “international liberal agenda” of global institutions. In June, a global faith group hosts a event focused on reinforcing families in an African nation, an event that health activists say has become a forum for opposing queer and trans rights. Advocates remark that the extent of foreign involvement 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 midsummer plans to destroy a significant cache of reproductive health commodities held in a warehouse in Europe. A global sexual health network states that their incineration will prevent 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 dogmatic choice “about exporting a regressive policy worldwide” and “a calculated move to control fertility”. A international emergency medical charity calls it “cruel and irresponsible”. Charities attempt to acquire the contraceptives so they can reach their intended destinations, but the US rejects each bid. The situation remains in deadlock as host nation officials are blocking perfectly good supplies to be incinerated.

Widening of the Anti-Abortion Policy

Reinstating the Mexico City Policy, which halts US aid to groups that offer, promote, or give information about abortion services overseas, is standard practice for certain US administrations. It was widely expected when the rule was reinstated in the first month of the year. The administration also reaffirmed membership in a pro-life declaration. But in October, the US announces it intends to extend the restrictions to include governments and multilateral organisations in addition to NGOs, and to encompass equity and inclusion initiatives. More details on the broader enforcement are expected in early 2026. A expert in child welfare says widening the scope will have “unimaginable effects”. Reproductive justice campaigners fear that upcoming Washington funding agreements being negotiated with countries in Africa will become dependent on agreeing to the expanded global gag.