Gender Justice Pays – But for Whom? Backlash in the Context of Democratic Decline

Across regions, anti-gender actors have shifted from reactive mobilization to proactive agenda-setting. They are transnational, well-funded, and deeply embedded in political parties, state institutions, religious networks, digital ecosystems, and multilateral arenas (McEwen & Narayanaswamy 2023). Backlash against gender justice is a central political, economic, and religiocultural project situated within contemporary democratic decline.

What is often strategically framed as a “values debate” promoting “pro-family” agendas has become a strategic effort to use gender as a lever for civic repression, institutional capture, repression of women’s and LGBTQIA+ rights, and the normalization of authoritarian and exclusionary governance. Importantly, these tactics are rarely confined to the national level but are embedded in transnational networks that enable rapid diffusion, policy learning, and political normalization across contexts. Backlash against gender justice is not peripheral to democratic erosion: it is one of its key drivers.

Gender Justice Pays – for the People

Gender justice pays economically, socially, and democratically. By expanding labor markets, increasing productivity, and strengthening political and socioeconomic rights for women, girls, and LGBTQIA+ people, gender justice achievements contribute to broad-based prosperity and social cohesion. Historically, advances in gender justice have been central to economic transformation, most notably through increased women’s labor-force participation, improved educational outcomes, and productivity gains that benefit entire societies. These gains, however, are neither automatic nor evenly distributed. As Piketty (2021) demonstrates, economic growth and social reform alone have not prevented the continued concentration of wealth and power among elites.

On the contrary, growth trajectories shaped by deregulation, weak redistribution, and reduced state responsibility have often benefited those at the top far more than the majority. This political economy context is crucial: gender justice delivers collective gains, but it directly challenges economic models that rely on inequality, as well as unpaid and informal care and domestic work.

From a societal perspective, gender justice clearly pays for the great majority: it supports shared prosperity, social inclusion, and democratic participation. However, it may pay less – or even pose a threat – to certain economic and political elites. In particular, actors aligned with illiberal and anti-gender political projects often benefit from deregulation, reduced social spending, and the concentration of wealth and power. For these actors, gender justice represents not only a redistribution of resources, but a redistribution of authority, autonomy, and voice.

This helps explain why gender justice has become a central target within broader illiberal projects. Attacks on women’s, girls’, and LGBTQIA+ rights are not cultural side battles, but integral to political strategies that seek to weaken social protections, roll back democratic accountability, and entrench hierarchical social orders. In this sense, gender justice pays for people and for democracy but not necessarily for elites whose economic and political power depends on inequality, deregulation, and the erosion of rights.

Strategic Responses to Backlash against Gender Justice

If democratic systems are to withstand and reverse current trajectories of backsliding, responses must evolve accordingly. Countering backlash requires strategic, structural, and cross-movement action, including: strengthening legal and institutional safeguards; advancing proactive feminist agendas grounded in economic justice and social protection; reclaiming narrative space by linking gender equality to democratic stability and material wellbeing; and treating digital infrastructures and civic space as core democratic institutions. To this end, the paper expands on the following seven recommendations.

Recommendations

1. Strengthen legislative and institutional foundations for gender-equal democracy.
2. Advance strategic, values-based communication linking gender equality to economic wellbeing and democratic stability.
3. Set proactive feminist policy agendas grounded in economic justice and social protection.
4. Invest in evidence-based research and monitoring systems.
5. Advance multilevel, intersectional alliances across movements, sectors, regions, and policy areas.
6. Strengthen feminist and pro-democracy influence in multilateral arenas.
7. Significantly increase and safeguard funding for gender justice and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).

Anna Eknor Ackzell was a research analyst at UNRISD until recently and an international development expert experienced in development cooperation, policy development, gender analysis, and project management. Prior to joining UNRISD, she held roles in program management at the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and policy development at UN Women, the ILO, and UN University. Anna holds a Master’s degree in Management in International Development and a Bachelor’s degree in Gender studies from Lund University.