– Sivananthi Thanenthiran, Executive Director, ARROW

Reflections & Aspirations: A Feminist Response

This year, I put off writing my 2025 annual letter precisely because of the onset of the Trump presidency. None of us have been able to fully grasp or fully comprehend the first week of the executive orders–not only the signing of the Global GAG Rule (GGR), which we were fully prepped for–but also the actions that a head of government and his advisors could unleash upon his own citizens.

As feminist and women’s rights movements grapple with rising right-wing governments across the globe, the actions of Trump will undeniably be emulated by others around the world. We knew he would clamp down on abortion rights and trans rights, but education, healthcare, and disaster relief? And eviscerating through the US federal civil service? The decimation of USAID is having severe repercussions across the Global South. Essential services that programme such as U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) provide have been abruptly ended, causing distress to marginalised and vulnerable communities.

As I write, news is rolling in from various WhatsApp groups on organisations closing down, ending critical work on the ground, and loss of jobs across the community. The US government gives more official aid than any other country, and in 2024, the US gave $72billion, of which 42% went to humanitarian funding. Despite criticism of US government aid – some very valid concerns – but it has been undeniable the work that this money funded is vital, needed and this step leaves a gaping hole in the development landscape which may never be adequately filled.

In addition to this, the US has also officially pulled out of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council, and the Paris agreement. None of this was unexpected, but the swiftness of the blows and the magnitude have certainly been devastating.

These are dark days.

I cannot help but recall the symbol of the Wheel of Fortune, which is used repeatedly in medieval literature to describe the fate of kings and leaders. As the king ascends, it is most certain, he will descend–as seen in the writings of Boethius, Chaucer, Dante and Shakespeare. The Wheel of Fortune is also mentioned in various medieval and Renaissance treatises on politics, including The Prince. Three points in this text, with regards to the Wheel of Fortune, are valuable to us as advocates of rights.

The Wheel of Fortune

One, if a leader acquires a state, dependent on the favour and position of others rather than his own strengths, he will not be able to hang on to power. We can anticipate that fallouts will happen between factions that supported his return to power. What feels like an overwhelming force today will become fractured over time, presenting opportunities for us.

Two, a leader may establish his power through cruel acts, but these must eventually be turned into acts that benefit citizens. Repeated cruel acts over the course of time can result in uprisings. Some of the actions put into play in the last few weeks have long-lasting repercussions, which result in overall impoverishment of citizens. With this, other segments of citizens and stakeholders can and will emerge as allies.

Three, leaders have free will and fortune (virtu vs fortuna), both playing equally decisive roles in creating destiny and legacy. The types of actions leaders take must suit the ever–changing circumstances – though this will be difficult because leaders can rarely change their nature. Global volatility shows us that different governments, markets, stakeholders impact how things turn out in the end, even at national levels. Power can be assumed, but power can also be checked in many different ways.

Knowing what we are up against is one aspect, and knowing what we can do and should do in constrained environments is another. As advocates and leaders, we have to also know how we should deploy our virtu or our will.

How do we move ahead?

So, our first approach should be to survive–to live another day and fight another battle. There will be legal and financial hoops and hurdles that we must navigate, but we must also be generous with partners, funders, allies and advocates in the ways we share resources of time, energy, knowledge, and money. To ensure that the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) agenda, through a feminist lens, continues to survive, we will double down on our work with young people in the region and across the Global South. Our focus will be on comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) and access to sexual and reproductive health services, precisely because the needs are greatest here.

Our second approach, will be to consolidate our work with our constituencies. Undoubtedly, in the last decade of populist discourse, the feminist and women’s rights movement has suddenly ‘become’ a movement of elites, out of touch with reality. We, who have been using the rights frameworks to check power of states, have been portrayed as imposing hegemony in society. There is a dire need to foreground grassroots activism in all of our work as a robust reminder that the feminist agenda is owned by all. In the past two years, we have been reassured by witnessing how grassroots activism births, nurtures, and fulfils the safe abortion agenda, and we intend to concentrate on this.

Our third approach will be to be inclusive of new allies in our agenda and work. Fault lines are already emerging in issues of climate change, digital technology, governance, trade, migration, where many stakeholders are being affected by policies put into action. New communities of interest will emerge in this process, and in that, we must ensure that we are able to work with these groups to ensure our interests are being included–as it is often quoted, “we do not live single-issue lives.” The confluence of the far right (including media), tech titans, big banks and big business–not only in the US but transnationally–is bound to disrupt and further skew financial spending in service of their particular interests over global interests. How we work with people’s movements to organise against this elite capture will be an important way in which the feminist movement will reorganise and reinvent herself.

The Paradigm

A paradigm of fear often calls us to close ranks and huddle together. A paradigm of love calls us to reach out and embrace those yearning to breathe free, to live with our constituencies, to listen quietly, and to learn tenaciously. We are living at a time when technology is swiftly altering humanity: who we are, what role we play, what meaning we forge–values and priorities are changing rapidly.

We must continuously bring our values and perspectives into all situations, as it is said: “Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence.”