Reaching Past Traditional Convenings to Counter Anti-Rights Movements
Over the past thirty years, navigating toward a future where all people have full control over their bodies and lives has felt like a relentless tug-of-war between progress and regression for feminist, human rights, LGBTQIA+, and trans-led organizations worldwide. Maybe not quite “one step forward, two steps back,” but sometimes it has certainly felt that way!
Why? A powerful, highly organized, transnational, and very well-funded anti-rights movement that is driven by an ideology that needs the dismantling of the rights, bodily autonomy, and integrity of girls, women, and gender or sexual minorities. By framing bodily autonomy and LGBTQIA+ rights as a threat to families, religion, security, and even nations, diverse anti-rights actors are employing sophisticated, and ultimately, persuasive arguments, to win hearts and minds globally. After all, who wouldn’t want to protect their family, their faith, their safety, and their country?
“What queers know, like migrants know, like anybody with a womb will know, is how easily freedoms can disappear.” — Dr. Catherine Baker, Lecturer, Hull University
In this ongoing struggle, international agreements that have long served as the bedrock of human rights advocacy have not gone unscathed. Take, for instance, the ironically dubbed Geneva “Consensus” Declaration, initially signed by 33 countries in 2020. Though presented by the Trump Administration as a timely policy to protect the health and rights of girls and women worldwide, the declaration does the complete opposite, undermining landmark global frameworks for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and the principle of global cooperation itself. At the same time, other global spaces, like the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), have been bogged down through intentional tactics of arguing over agreed upon language and definitions.
Feminists have long recognized the ever-expanding anti-rights movement as a major obstacle on the road to creating a just, gender-equal world. However, we haven’t always come together and used our collective power effectively to overcome it.
For example, anti-rights actors have cunningly used anti-colonial rhetoric to stir up division and spread the belief that the right to bodily autonomy is a Western invention imposed by former colonizers to divert attention from broader rights that account for the well-being and health of all people, like the right to health and the right to development. It is vital that we, as a movement, openly recognize and reinforce the interconnectedness of all the work we do to advance the right to equity, health, development, bodily autonomy and SRHR. These rights have always and will always be a package deal, and our efforts to advance them will only be effective if we work together.
In writing this piece, my ask is that as a feminist movement, we move past any differences and embrace a bolder and more pragmatic approach to countering anti-rights actors, starting with how we convene and advocate for change.
Recently, I, like many leaders in this sector, have grappled with the hard truth that most spaces where world governments come together have become performative: a moment for member states to play out their values publicly at the expense of progressive negotiations and decisive action. When I look back at pivotal global forums, like the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), I’m struck by the inspiration and aspirations evoked by that moment — and by how we’ve struggled to recapture that same level of fervor and collective energy at global gatherings since.
To be clear, I am not saying we should give up on these gatherings. It’s quite the opposite. These spaces remain tactically crucial to collectively defending hard won progress for girls, women, and LGBTQIA+ or non-binary individuals.
We need to first ensure that these global spaces truly reflect the priorities and opinions of those who have lived experiences of our most pressing challenges, including gender inequality, racism, economic inequality, and the climate crisis. Second, we must intentionally create truly inclusive and alternative spaces that radically reshape how we collaborate, allowing us to work more effectively toward our shared objectives, while combating our common adversaries, be they far-right political parties, radical religious organizations, or other regressive forces.
The Women Deliver 2023 Conference (WD2023) is one such alternative space we need to meet anti-rights actors head on. WD2023 aims to create spaces where barriers are broken, connections are restored, knowledge is shared, and coordinated advocacy is advanced to push back more effectively. By connecting advocates directly with policy and decision-makers, WD2023 also promises to shift power while bridging existing gaps between advocates and those who have the power to change existing laws and policies.
Together as a global feminist movement, we have the power to overcome our differences and work toward our shared goal: a world where gender equality is a reality. Achieving this goal depends on intentionally reaching beyond the limits of conventional convenings in order to proactively challenge anti-rights movements.
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