For many, Trump's first 100 days in office have felt never-ending. The constant onslaught of rights' infringement and misogynic policies have made it difficult to keep track of all the damage that has been done. And, in so many ways, women's rights have been under fire. It's tough to look at, and almost impossible to comprehend, but we have to take stock. The changes to funding, domestically and worldwide, the confirmation of an anti-Roe v Wade Supreme Court Justice, and policies that hurt refugee and undocumented immigrants are just a few of the indignities we've seen in the Trump administration.
Is there a silver lining in all of this? Well, there might be — and that's galvanization. "We're all rallying together. We're unifying," Breanne Butler, one of the Women's March global coordinators, who has helped to organize more than 300 sister marches across the United States and overseas, told Bustle. "We're uplifting the voices that have been marginalized for a long time, particularly in this past year, and we're coming together in one voice and making a strong statement to the upcoming administration: 'Hey, we're here, we're watching you. Welcome to the White House. We are not going to be silenced any longer.'"
And, Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund told Cosmopolitan:
I’ve been an organizer really my entire lifetime, and I've never seen this kind of organic organizing happening all around the country — and everything from women who've been marching their entire lives, who remember before there was a women's movement, to young women and young men who've never participated in anything political or advocacy-related. So that gives me enormous hope. These are the largest marches in the history of this country, and they weren't only in Washington and New York, they were in Utah and Arizona and, you know, everywhere in between.
So at least there's action, at least there's movement. But we have to acknowledge what's really going on, so we know know we're fighting against. Here are 11 major ways Trump's first 100 days have hurt women's rights.
1Potentially Defunding The Office of Global Women's Issues
That's right — one of the latest affronts on women's rights from the Trump administration is also one of the most upsetting. The proposed federal budget cut would see the The Global Women's Issues Office defunded and that money instead going to issues involving national security. You know, because the U.S. doesn't spend enough money on that. Considering that this office has helped around the globe with initiatives to reduce violence, end forced marriages, and give women access to vocation training and education, it would be a devastating loss.
2The Global Gag Rule
Trump's reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy restricts funding so that it cannot be received by any organization that also provides abortion services, having a huge impact on NGOs around the globe.
"This is unprecedented, it's unusual. Frankly, it's cruel," Jonathan Rucks, director of advocacy at PAI, an global advocacy group focusing on women's and reproductive rights tells Bustle. "This is ... nearly 15 times more funding that is being implicated by Trump's global gag rule, and then expand that out to the millions more women and families that will be implicated."
3Proposing To Defund Anti-Violence Organizations
The same budget cuts that Trump is proposing would put a lot of key anti-violence funding in danger — with low-income women and women of color bearing most of the burden. This includes the National Domestic Violence Hotline and other programs funded under the Violence Against Women Act.
4Empowering Misogynists
Along with all the worrying legislation, don't forget that this is someone who joked about grabbing a woman by her genitals against her will — and then was elected president. Don't underestimate the emboldening power that will have on misogynists around the country.
5Endangering Title X And The Health Care It Provides To Women Everywhere
Title X has been a key provider of family planning funding for low-income women, including helping fund 4,000 Planned Parenthood clinics. But earlier this month, Trump signed a bill that would allow states to control that funding. This means they could deny funding to abortion providers and prevent them from providing the health care that so many women currently rely on.
6Ending U.S. Funding For The UN's Population Fund
Basically, if it's an amazing fund that helps women around the world with reproductive health, Trump's going to take a swipe at it. And on April 3 of this year, the UNFPA was another victim.
7Confirming Neil Gorsuch
Nominating and confirming a conservative, anti-choice Supreme Court justice could have a horrific impact on women's rights that goes way beyond Trump's tenure. "I think there’s a number of decisions that he’s rendered that make it clear to us that he will deliver on Donald Trump’s campaign promise to overturn Roe v. Wade," president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, Ilyse Hogue, tells Bustle. "In his upholding the Planned Parenthood decision, he was relying on videos that were widely debunked as being false. If there’s anyone we need to really crowd out the noise and focus on facts, it’s Supreme Court justices." Unfortunately, that's not what Trump gave us.
8Signing The Refugee Ban, Which Disproportionally Affects Women And Children
Trump's executive order that banned refugees and visitors from primarily Muslim countries was a huge shock that rightfully sparked incredible outrage. But it's important to remember that women and children would be disproportionately affected— and it's punishing women that are already in an extremely vulnerable position.
9Revocation Of Obama's Guidelines On Transgender Bathrooms
The transgender bathroom protections developed under Obama were a huge step forward— but Trump made sure to revoke them in a huge step backwards. Obama's guidelines protected student's choice under Title IX and revocation puts many transgender students at risk of bullying. Trump actually spoke in favor of these protections during his campaign, but he tends to 180 at will, so no surprise there.
10Endangering Victims Of Domestic Abuse Through His Immigration Policy
Trump's immigration policy and the ICE raids have targeted many vulnerable people, but some women's advocacy groups have found that they've served as a further way to abuse and manipulate victims of domestic violence.
"We condemn it," Michael Polenberg, Vice President of Government Affairs at Safe Horizon, a New York-based victim services organization, tells Bustle. "We are deeply concerned that this kind of enforcement action by ICE ultimately gives abusers another tool to silence."
11Revoking Obama's Fair Pay Scale And Safe Workplace Orders
The Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule shouldn't have offended anyone — it was simply aimed at providing more transparency, ending discrimination, and working toward equal pay for women. But, big surprise, the protections were revoked.
It's only been 100 days. So keep fighting, because it's just getting started.
