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On International Women's Rights Day, Women 7 2026, which brings together more than 260 civil society organizations from 62 countries around the world, presents its analysis of “global imbalances,” the main theme of the G7 2026, and its key recommendations for addressing them. France, which holds the G7 presidency in this pivotal year, has a major role to play, which requires political courage, the willingness to accept certain power relations, and consistency with regard to its national and international commitments.
The backlash: a major imbalance
France has decided to base its G7 presidency on one observation: "Significant imbalances are threatening the global economy, ranging from predatory competition, industrial overcapacities, underinvestment, excessive debt and deregulation to a drop in international solidarity and low private investment in developing countries, among other issues. As a result, trade tensions and geopolitical tensions are running high.”
This diagnosis overlooks a major factor contributing to imbalance: the backlash against the rights of girls, women, and LGBTQIA+ people. This organized, planned, and well-resourced phenomenon is supported by anti-rights movements and conservative
political parties, with the complicity of part of the private sector and Big Tech. Their actions and rhetoric exacerbate sexism and homophobia in our societies, and often racism and discrimination against people from migrant backgrounds as well. This backlash, already strongly at work today, could intensify in the near future. Beyond its impact on women's rights and gender equality, this trend is a major warning sign for democracy. The mechanism is well known: wherever civil society organizations, particularly feminist organizations, are attacked or weakened, civic space closes, countervailing powers recede, and authoritarian regimes thrive.
This backlash goes hand in hand with other factors that need to be explicitly named: an unprecedented challenge to international law and multilateralism, including essential normative frameworks such as the Women, Peace and Security agenda, despite the persistence of serious conflicts and humanitarian crises.
In international relations, women's rights and gender equality are not secondary or peripheral issues: whether they are used as dividing lines, bargaining chips, or objects of manipulation, they are major geopolitical issues.
Adopting a very firm stance in the face of these multifaceted attacks
To redress global imbalances, the French Presidency makes the following proposal: “Confronted with imbalances and rivalries, France will not settle for either a “might is right” approach, which would lead to subservience and a bloc mentality, or a moral posture limited to simple commentary which would condemn us to marginalization and powerlessness.”
For Women 7, there is indeed an urgent need to prevent the law of the strongest from becoming permanently established. For decades, feminist researchers and activists have developed analytical frameworks for understanding this phenomenon. With regard to economic and financial imbalances, they point, for example, to underinvestment in healthcare systems, unequal access to labor markets and finance, and the gendered impact of debt and austerity. They also highlight the links between a masculinist culture, the rise of the far right and populism, the brutalization of international relations, and geopolitical crises. Today, the global situation proves the validity of these analyses, which had previously been largely overlooked by those in power. It is exacerbated by misinformation and the proliferation of hate speech. In this regard, it should be added that the regulation of digital spaces is an extremely important issue. In its 2026 annual report, the French High Council for Gender Equality identified online masculinism as a security issue. The lack of women involved in decisions relating to the adoption and implementation of AI presents a real risk that these imbalances and inequalities will be exacerbated.
As for the need to move beyond “moral posturing,” feminist demands offer solutions here too. Funding human rights organizations, promoting international solidarity, and
protecting civic space are concrete levers for strengthening social resilience and democratic stability.
Ignoring this reactionary offensive will not make it go away: on the contrary, it will become more deeply and durably entrenched.
Mobilizing within the G7 and beyond
It should be remembered that the G7 is an ambivalent decision-making forum. On the one hand, it lacks legitimacy compared to UN forums, but on the other, it has been a forum where certain gender equality initiatives have emerged. At the previous G7 summit in 2019, France, for example, facilitated the creation of the “Biarritz Partnership” and set up its “Support Fund for Feminist Organizations,” which has since provided financial support to nearly 1,500 organizations around the world. Thanks to this fund, these organizations have been able to drive collective mobilization, support legislative changes, and carry out significant, even vital, actions around the world, including prevention of gender-based and sexual violence, access to justice, and the fight against climate change. In addition, the global visibility of the G7 makes it a gateway for mobilizing public opinion. It is in this context that Women 7's action takes place.
Today, we must add another layer of complexity: recent policies adopted by certain G7 member States are seriously undermining gender equality, human rights, multilateralism, and democratic principles.
The minimum objective is therefore to leave no room for regression within the G7. It is also a question of using the various events and processes directly or indirectly linked to France's G7 presidency to move forward, bringing together a wide range of actors beyond States.
It should be noted that the 5th Conference on feminist diplomacy will be held in Madrid, ten days before the G7 summit. Germany, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom, representing the majority of G7 members, signed the political declaration of the 4th conference in Paris in October 2025.
Four priorities to address before the turning point of the US presidency
In this context, France's presidency of the G7 must be a moment of important clarification: between the States that are orchestrating the backlash, those that are turning a blind eye, and those that are actually fighting it.
To those who turn a blind eye, we say that they must break their silence now. To those who are committed to fighting backlash, we say that now is the time to demonstrate this by redoubling their efforts. And in both cases, we call on these States to:
- Affirm that the backlash against the rights of women and girls in all their diversity, as well as LGBTQIA+ communities more broadly, creates a major global imbalance for democracies.
- Explicitly recognize the fundamental role of civil society organizations, particularly feminist organizations and civil society, in responding to global imbalances and defending democracy.
- Make the political choice to direct substantial public financial resources towards supporting these organizations at a time when such funding is at an all-time low. In concrete terms, this means providing direct, flexible, multi-year financial resources to feminist organizations in G7 countries and beyond, particularly local groups led by the Global South. It also means mobilizing private foundations, businesses, and financial institutions, which can be powerful actors in financing gender equality and organizations.
- Use the driving force of States to bring together and amplify the mobilization of various actors (other institutions, civil society, public opinion and the media, the private sector).
In 2027, the United States will take over the presidency of the G7 and, in the least unfavorable scenario, will neutralize any possibility of action. This is therefore the last year to consolidate alliances. The Women 7 calls for this fight to be structured with clarity and conviction.