Ei-iE

On September 26, education trade unionists from around the world came together to discuss the state of the anti-rights movement in education and strategies to oppose it in defence of rights and gender equality. A new report from ODI Global informed the debate.

Education as a battleground

After a period of relative expansion of human rights particularly for women and members of the LGBTI+ community, we are faced with a strong pushback against these rights, which is a now a well-funded global phenomenon called the anti-rights or anti-gender movement. This movement is based on a common agenda of promoting “traditional values” over individual human rights, and it forms a bond between illiberal and un-democratic forces across autocratic regimes, authoritarian governments, and some consolidated democracies.

“Though the focus of these efforts varies from place to place, there are clear common threads. These actors promote a narrow, patriarchal vision of gender relations and counter what they perceive as threats to national well-being, arising from feminism and social justice movements. Education systems have become the battlegrounds of these agendas, seeking to control who has access to educational institutions and what is taught. However, this is part of a wider erosion of democratic norms and rights. As education trade unionists, we are fighting back, and we must continue our solidarity with one another in this fight,” stated Haldis Holst, Deputy General Secretary of Education International welcoming union activists to the online event.

The Education International webinar outlined the complexities of the global anti-gender actors and their networks, and informed education unions how to combat the anti-rights movement.

Whose hands on our education?

The Overseas Development Institute’s new report, Whose Hands on our education? Identifying and countering gender-restrictive backlash, gave education unionists key insights into the anti-rights movement in education.

Presented by ODI’s Rachel Marcus, the report looks at who gender-restrictive actors are and why they are on the rise, their key objectives and tactics in relation to education, and what education unions can do to resist their influence.

The new ODI report identifies anti-gender actors as diverse coalitions of political and religious groups, with allies in the media, among parents’ and other civil society organisations. They are united by the aim to promote a binary view of gender, often emphasising ‘traditional roles’. Anti-gender actors generally oppose ‘gender ideology’ which they rarely define but often refers to teaching about feminism, gender equality, human rights, and LGBTQI+ rights.

With the support of key religious organisations, funding for anti-gender actors rose to $3.7 billion globally between 2013 -2017. Between 2007 and 2020, $54 million was spent in Africa by US-based Christian groups, campaigning against LGBTQI+ rights and comprehensive sexuality education. Between 2009 and 2018, Russian oligarchs channelled $188 million to anti-gender organisations in Europe.

Anti-gender actors work by targeting both the curriculum and teachers. They resist gender equality policies and frameworks, work to prevent or restrict comprehensive sexuality education, resist efforts to remove gender stereotypes from the curriculum and learning materials or create and promote materials which reinforce them. At the same time, LGBTQI+ teachers and allies who teach about gender or LGBTQI+ rights are threatened and ministry officials who promote comprehensive sexuality education or gender equality content are defamed or removed.

Strategies to counter the anti-rights movement in education

Educators and their unions play an essential role in opposing the anti-rights movement in education and advancing gender equality. The ODI report outlines some key strategies educators can employ, including working to promote gender-equitable values, strengthening critical media and digital literacy, communicating clear factual information about relationships and sex education, and engaging with parents and communities.

Speaking about her union’s work to oppose the anti-rights movement in Brazil, CNTE’s Fatima Silva stressed the importance of building alliances to create a broad popular movement for rights and gender equality. As anti-gender actors attempt to dismantle rights at every level, progressive forces need to come together and counter these efforts everywhere they arise. Mobilising to vote for progressive governments, protesting against any backsliding in terms of rights, working at the grassroots level to raise awareness, sharing experiences and learning from each other are all essential strategies.

Unions must ensure that all teachers targeted by anti-rights actors are provided legal and emotional support. Unions must use social dialogue mechanisms to ensure collective agreements cover teachers and education support personnel in all their diversity. School leaders must also work to support teachers and protect them from any efforts to exert undue influence on the educational process. Violence against educators must not be tolerated.

Gender equality a priority for the education unionists

At the 10th Education International World Congress convened in Argentina from July 29 to August 2 2024, education unionists from around the world adopted five resolutions on opposing the anti-rights movement. Specifically, the EI Congress adopted resolutions on

• Organising against the political and ideological attacks on academic freedom and institutional autonomy;
• Curriculum in the fight against fascism;
• Protecting higher education and research staff from attacks on academic freedom;
• Condemning the rise of anti-LGBTQI+ ideology from the far-right;
• Defending democracy against right-wing populism and extremism in education.

In addition, on July 30, Congress participants came together for a session entitled “Mobilising for rights and gender equality in the face of far-right nationalism and authoritarianism” where education unionists from Iran, Paraguay, Poland, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States shared their experiences fighting for gender equality and individual rights for all.

These efforts will only increase in the coming period. “We see this is a cross-cutting challenge, critical to all our work as teachers, feminists, and trade unionists”, stressed EI’s Deputy General Secretary Haldis Holst.