Who’s afraid of gender equality? Inside the latest political battleground

Across many countries, legislative strategies are increasingly being used to roll back hard-won rights related to gender and bodily autonomy. This International Women's Day, we're asking: what can be done at national and multilateral levels to resist further erosion of sexual and reproductive rights worldwide? This episode explores the political and ideological forces behind the growing politicisation of Women's Sexual Health and Reproductive rights, the weaponisation of gender issues globally. Building on new evidence on efforts to undermine safe abortion - Sierra Leone, efforts to restrict LGBTQ+ rights in Kenya, and initiatives to reverse the ban on female genital mutilation (FGM) in The Gambia - we examine the narratives that allow these agendas to gain traction and the role our institutions play in safeguarding rights. Guests Sara Pantuliano , Chief Executive, ODI Global (host) Aatif Somji, Senior Research Officer, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion ODI Global Satang Nabaneh, Director of Programs for the Human Rights Center at the University of Dayton, and Member of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) Maria Antonieta Alcalde Castro , Incoming Director General of the International Planned Parenthood Federation Related resources Navigating the politics of backlash: women's rights and repealing the FGM ban in The Gambia (Working Paper, ODI Global) Think Change episode 85: Algorithms and online misogyny – how do we fix a system built to harm women? (Think Change podcast, ODI Global) Research series: Navigating the politics of backlash to sexual & reproductive rights (Research series, ODI Global)

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Who’s afraid of gender equality? Inside the latest political battleground is an episode from ODI podcasts by ODI podcasts.

This episode is 36:56 long.

This episode was published on Mar 5, 2026.

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