Earlier this month, I wrote about how the spread of authoritarian regimes around the world is threatening the progress that has been made in recent years towards global gender equality.

I highlighted how laws everywhere are under attack by those seeking to reinforce patriarchal norms and traditional gender roles; from deeply troubling political moves made in Gambia to reverse a 2015 law banning female genital mutilation, to the appalling realities of post-Roe v Wade abortion policy in the US – recently underscored by the state of Florida banning abortion after 6 weeks. 

The weeks since have further underscored the urgency of this issue, as news continues to break regarding the ongoing ramifications of crackdowns on abortions in the US, such as the increasing number of reports of pregnant women being turned away from hospitals and left untreated following confusion over which treatments medical staff can legally provide.

It would be easy to conclude that the very rule of law is at risk of being toppled; that our collective efforts to protect and uphold the rights of women everywhere are no match for the pressure that continues to be applied by the interminable march of far-right authoritarianism. But my own experience over the past month suggests that such grim conclusions are flawed.

Because even as legislators in Gambia were arguing for the nonsensical introduction of a bill that would reverse the country’s hard-won ban on FGM, I witnessed Gambians from all backgrounds coming together to courageously campaign against such regressive changes.

Because despite very real concerns about rising inequality in reproductive healthcare in the US, I saw fear being overcome by hope at the 68th session of the UN Committee on the Status of Women, as well as at the 2024 Skoll World Forum in the UK, as hundreds of global thinkers and leaders came together to explore opportunities for real, enduring change.

Because, while reactionary ideologues continue to dominate the airwaves and headlines, I know that thousands more people are quietly dedicating their energy and resources to shaping innovative, collaborative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems. 

It is these committed, visionary change-makers who will always have the most meaningful impact on the world. Just as we have seen this month in Missouri, where a recent bipartisan bill to ban child marriage won initial approval in the state Senate, those who seek to listen and to work together are better able to uphold and protect the rights of the most vulnerable. And Arizona’s vote to overturn their 160-year-old abortion ban tells us that tenacity can deliver progress. 

As we continue to strive for a more just and equal world, we would do well to remember that those who shout the loudest are not always the ones to whom we ought to lend our ears.