A POWERFUL AND COORDINATED MOVEMENT AGAINST HUMAN RIGHTS IS GROWING IN THE UK
A powerful anti-rights movement is growing in the UK, threatening to roll back our hard-won freedoms and rewrite the rules on whose rights, bodies and lives deserve protection.
Our groundbreaking analysis has uncovered a rapidly expanding network of organisations working to undermine human rights protections, targeting reproductive freedoms, LGBTI rights and promoting dangerous practices such as so-called "conversion therapy".
This threat is real, organised and growing. But we see their game, and we won’t stand for it.
What the analysis shows: a coordinated attack on our rights
Our analysis maps the nature and finances of 65 anti-rights groups operating across the UK, including anti-abortion organisations, groups promoting so-called "conversion therapy," UK branches of powerful US-based organisations, and ultra-conservative Christian groups, with many groups emerging since 2015. Three quarters are registered either as a charity or a company.
These groups spent a staggering £106 million between 2019 and 2023, an increase of over 33%. All with the aim to undermine our freedoms, restrict access to essential healthcare and roll back the rights we’ve fought hard to win.
Human rights are universal - so make no mistake, this affects us all.
Key Findings: Follow the money
We conducted an extensive financial analysis of 32 of these anti-rights organisations. Here's what we uncovered:
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Anti-rights groups have dramatically increased their spending by over 33% between 2019 and 2023, reaching £106 million
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The largest spenders are UK branches of US organisations (£34 million), ultra-conservative Christian policy/advocacy groups (£31.5 million), and anti-abortion organisations (£28.5 million)
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Groups promoting so-called "conversion therapy" have increased their spending by an alarming 165%
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The growth in expenditure of ‘crisis pregnancy centres’ – which work to dissuade pregnant people from seeking an abortion – has risen 46% between 2019 and 2023
Big spenders from the US
The Alliance for Defending Freedom (ADF), a Christian group that was instrumental in decimating abortion rights in the USA through the reversal of Roe v Wade, set up a UK branch in 2015. The ADF works to advance laws and policies that oppose access to abortion and LGBTI rights. In the UK they have been defending individuals charged for breaching Safe Access Zones around abortion clinics.
The ADF is spending more and more in the UK and its expenditure increased by 187% between 2019 and 2023, for a total of 3.9 million.
Anti-Abortion groups and crisis pregnancy centres
We identified 25 anti-abortion organisations, including 13 so-called "crisis pregnancy centres". These unregulated centres pretend to offer impartial advice, but actually actively discourage abortion by spreading misinformation and stigma. For 9 of these 13 centres their spending rose by 46% from £4.4 million to £6.4million between 2019 and 2023.
Alarmingly, some of these centres receive funding from the National Lottery and government grants.
So-called ‘Conversion Therapy’ – a violation of human rights
We mapped 12 groups promoting the harmful and abusive practice of so-called "conversion therapy," aiming to ‘change’ or suppress people’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The spending of 4 of these surged by nearly 165%, marking the fastest growth of all categories tracked.
Despite the UK government announcing plans ban on conversion therapy in July 2024, no legislation has yet materialised.
Why this matters
The growing anti-rights movement in the UK, emboldened by what is happening in the US and increasingly well-funded, is targeting reproductive freedoms, access to abortion and the rights of LGBTI people. Their end goal is to roll back our hard-won rights, undermine equality protections and rewrite the rules on who deserves dignity and freedom.
We must name this threat for what it is: a deliberate and coordinated attack on human rights, led by actors who are weaponising misinformation, fabricating moral panic about abortion care and LGBTI people and exploiting existing prejudice to sow divisions and distract us from the real issues that matter.
We must stand firm - we are not powerless and we are not alone. Human rights are universal and when someone's freedom is under attack, everyone is at risk. When we defend one group’s rights, we defend everyone's.
Take action: Protect our rights
We can’t wait until our rights are gone before defending them.
Powerful anti-rights groups want a world where you are not free to love who you love, be who you are, or make choices about your own body. A world where women’s freedoms are controlled, and LGBTI+ people are criminalised.
We refuse to be divided. Now is the time to speak out, stand up, and show up for each other.
Speak out against attacks on our freedoms. Stand up for everyone’s right to live safely, freely and equally.
When we defend one of us, we defend all of us.