Gender equality and equity: essential for health and society

The terms gender, equity, and equality have been fiercely contested and increaslingly instrumentalised over the past year. The Trump Administration's January 2025 orders to cease the use of the term gender in federal documents, to stop all funding that does not promote the male–female binary, and to terminate all diversity, equity, and inclusion programmes will have detrimental effects on health in the USA and abroad.

Under the newly expanded Mexico City policy, also known as the global gag rule, all organisations are prohibited from using US health and development aid for abortion-related services and for initiatives supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion values or LGBTQI+ rights. These developments are part of a broader hostility to ideas of gender equality and equity, with the growing influence of far-right parties and religious extremist civil society organisations that has led to highly restrictive laws against LGBTQI+ communities and abortion in countries such as Uganda and Poland. As a result, multilateral organisations, companies, and funders—including those working in health—have become guarded about explicitly addressing issues of gender, equity, and equality. But these terms are not just academic or ideological concepts; granting everyone the same rights and opportunities while addressing the unique circumstances different genders face is vital for the health of all.