• Landmark publication draws lessons on strategy from 18-months of learning exchanges with feminist activists resisting rights threats across Africa.
  

• In-depth case studies document creative and strategic feminist resistance to threats in four countries – Côte D’Ivoire, Ghana, The Gambia and Sierra Leone.
  

• Follow-the-money analysis reflects what they’re up against – including new evidence revealing how OSF funding ended up benefiting an anti-abortion group.
  

• Upcoming threats are identified including from Mormon actors expanding in West Africa, and the ‘Strengthening Families’ conference coming next to Sierra Leone.

Across Africa, anti-rights threats are escalating and are receiving increasing attention. Less well-known are the stories of feminists, including young feminists, who are on the frontlines of creatively and strategically resisting these threats. Until now.

Until Everybody Is Free: Young Feminists Resisting the Anti-Rights Tide, published on 25 May 2025, Africa Union Day, documents for the first time some of these stories of resistance, and draws lessons on strategy from 18-months of pan-African activist learning exchanges.

“The threats posed are tremendous, but the resistance of feminist activists and young feminists fills this publication with radical hope and inspiration,” says Dr. Ramatu Bangura, Co-CEO of Purposeful, which is the first Africa-rooted hub that is resourcing girls’ and young feminist activism all over the world. Purposeful is a co-publisher of this report along with the Institute for Journalism and Social Change (IJSC), which brings together journalists, activists and researchers for impactful collaborations, and Fòs Feminista, the worldwide alliance for sexual and reproductive justice for women, girls and gender-diverse people.

The report’s case studies profile how feminist and queer movements in Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, The Gambia, and Sierra Leone have responded to proliferating anti-rights attacks with creative public campaigns, legal actions, and strategic partnerships with journalists, international allies, and local police. These movements have had victories, too: delaying the passage of anti- rights legislation in Ghana, maintaining the ban on FGM in The Gambia, and gaining cut-through with their campaigning for the Child Rights and Safe Motherhood bills in Sierra Leone. But threats are still escalating, including from Mormon actors expanding in West Africa, and the ‘Strengthening Families’ conference which is coming next to Sierra Leone – where a prominent anti-abortion group has also benefited from support from OSF.

“The world as we know it now is one that should give everyone cause for concern, especially all those committed to advancing human rights, gender equality, and feminisms. And in response, we need to fan the flames of fierce feminist resistance,” argues Kemi Akinfaderin, Chief Global Advocacy Officer at Fòs Feminista.

Until Everybody Is Free includes new follow-the-money analysis which reveals how some funding from Open Society Foundations – a leading supporter of sexual and reproductive rights internationally – also ended up benefiting the anti-abortion Inter-Religious Council of Sierra Leone. In response to this finding, a spokesperson for the foundation said: “We are grateful that this matter has been brought to our attention. This grant has been closed and we are committed to investigating and implementing due diligence efforts to ensure, as far as possible, that our grantees are aligned with our values and our commitments to human rights, including reproductive rights and freedoms.”

U.S. anti-rights actors are also spending increasing amounts of money on the continent, according to IJSC’s research. They include Family Watch International, led by Mormon activist Sharon Slater, which spent 102% more in Africa in 2023 compared to 2022.

Responding to these rising threats is urgent and complex – but feminists across the Continent are showing the way forward and their voices are featured throughout the report. Nyawira Wahito, Resource Center for Women and Girls, Kenya said, for example: “We've managed to mobilise millions of young people. We have managed to get our government to listen. We have managed to get our members of Parliament to see that we are serious.”

“We share the stories in this report not only to inspire hope, but to invite others to also take action in their communities, countries, and regions,” explains Akinfaderin from Fòs Feminista. “Connect with others across geographies, so that we can continue to shape a more just world not just for ourselves, but for those who are yet to come.”

Notes to Editors

• Until Everybody Is Free: Young Feminists Resisting the Anti-Rights Tide is co-published on 25 May 2025 by Purposeful, the Institute for Journalism and Social Change (IJSC) and Fòs Feminista.
  

• 25 May is Africa Union Day. Africa Union Day is the annual commemoration of the foundation of the Organization of African Unity in 1963. It is used to mark each year the progress of the African liberation movement against foreign exploitation.
  

• Purposeful is the world’s first Africa-rooted hub resourcing girls’ and young feminist activism all over the world. IJSC is a transnational initiative bringing together journalists, activists and researchers for impactful collaborations in service of rights and justice. Fòs Feminista is the worldwide alliance for sexual and reproductive justice for women, girls and gender-diverse people.
  

• ‘Until Everybody is Free’ draws critical lessons on resistance strategy from learning exchanges over 18-months with feminist movement collaborators across the African Continent, including the Resource Center for Women and Girls, the Zamara Foundation, and Feminists in Kenya, Rightify Ghana, Nala Feminist Collective, and the Forum Against Harmful Practices.
  

• The identified OSF funding which benefited the anti-abortion Inter-Religious Council of Sierra Leone went through OSF’s grantee Christian Aid.‘Until Everybody is Free’ includes the evidence of this funding and OSF’s full response.

Interested journalists may request embargoed copies of the report, and interviews, by contacting: Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah, nana@makedapr.com

Interested journalists are also invited to attend an embargoed press briefing at 2pm GMT on Thursday 22 May 2025, at which they will hear from and be able to ask questions of: Dr. Ramatu Bangura, Co-CEO of Purposeful; Claire Provost, Co-Founder, Institute of Journalism and Social Change; Tara Mukeku-Cilolo, Associate Director, Fòs Feminista, and Famia Nkansa, Co-Author of Until Everybody is Free. Register for the press briefing here.

ENDS