Botswana Gazette (19 March 2025)
Washington Blade (20 March 2025)
Eswatini Observer (20 March 2025)
Botswana Guardian (21 March 2025)
The Weekend Post (22 March 2025)
By Bradley Fortuin.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the United Nations (UN), protects and promotes the inclusion of vulnerable and marginalised groups by recognising that all people are born free and equal. It guarantees rights without discrimination based on, but not limited to, sex, gender or any other social status. It was adopted by States at a global level immediately after the horrors of World War 2, to ensure such atrocities and the events that led up to it, do not occur again The UDHR ensures everyone’s right to live safe, free from discrimination, hate and violence and to be treated with dignity under the law.
The United States, indicating that it would be withdrawing from the UN, puts a question mark on human rights protection. The continuous protection and priority of democratic and constitutional human rights is under threat. As we have witnessed, the US is one of the largest contributors to the UN’s budget, and its withdrawal places global human rights protections in question, especially with regard to access to health services. Will this move give power and rise to human rights violations? What will be the long-term impact on grassroots community movements? Are vulnerable and marginalised groups safe?
Over the past few weeks, the world has witnessed a disturbing shift in leadership, one that not only rolls back protections for everyone, including vulnerable and marginalised groups, but also has the potential to fuel hate, spread misinformation, disinformation, division and violence. Donald Trump’s return to power has been marked by an alarming series of executive orders targeting immigrants, migrants, LGBTIQ+ people and women all under the guise of “realigning American values.”
Erasing identities.
Trump’s position on gender diversity has found eager supporters, including many in Africa who advocate for a rigid, binary definition of gender. His 20 January 2025 executive order, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology and Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” was nothing short of an attack on transgender people and all persons who choose to live in a manner where they are not defined and boxed in by their attributed gender. This order spreads disinformation by claiming that gender identity is false and deceitful, legitimising hate speech. By insinuating that gender diversity is a threat it creates an environment where transphobia will likely thrive without any consequences. With one stroke of the pen, Trump reinforced conservative, exclusionary gender norms and gave legitimacy to those who seek to erase transgender identities.
The consequences of this executive order are slowly being felt far beyond the US. In Nigeria, conservative leaders have hailed Trump’s decision as validation of their own laws, which according to reports, already criminalise same-sex sexual activity between men and between women, and gender expression for transgender persons. A 2024 report by Nigerian advocacy group, The Initiative for Equal Rights, highlighted that LGBTIQ+ people already face regular discrimination and violence. These executive orders are likely to result in a rise of hate crimes towards gender-diverse persons. Framing gender identity as a “dangerous ideology,” Trump is not only spreading disinformation but also legitimising hate speech and possibly creating a global ripple effect that threatens the safety and dignity of transgender and gender-diverse people.
Xenophobia in full swing.
Transgender people are not the only ones under attack. Immigrants and migrants are also targeted as Trump endlessly signed his executive orders. One of his over eighty executive orders is the realigning the US refugee admissions program, which frames migrants and refugees as threats to national security, thereby potentially reinforcing dangerous xenophobic rhetoric. Trump has long pushed the false narrative that migrants are a burden on resources, a danger to public safety, and a threat to the so-called “true American identity.” This rhetoric does more than just close borders. It dehumanises refugees, fuels violence against migrants, which directly goes against the essence of the human rights protection mechanisms such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, which protects the rights and dignity of migrants.
Mysogny over human rights, right?
Trump’s disregard for women’s rights is nothing new. A 2018 article in the Guardian reported how Donald Trump’s attitudes and policies have undermined women’s rights through derogatory remarks, sexual misconduct allegations and policy rollbacks. The reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule, and its cuts in funding for health services, is likely to disrupt essential sexual and reproductive health services of many women around the world. It will leave women who are already on the margins of exclusion, further exposed to human rights violations such forced pregnancies due to denial of safe abortion and contraceptive services.
An Afrobarometer report from December 2023 revealed that gender-based violence remains a top concern in Africa, with 14% of respondents stating that violence against women and girls is “very common” in their communities. Trump’s policies and rhetoric only serve to exacerbate these realities, reinforcing harmful stereotypes, restricting bodily autonomy and undermining decades of progress in advancing women’s rights. The leader of the free world’s rhetoric and actions reinforces systems that discriminate against women and disregards the protection of all women.
*Bradley Fortuin is a consultant at the Southern Africa Litigation Centre and a social justice activist.
