The European Parliamentary Forum on Sexual and Reproductive Rights (EPF) unveiled its latest flagship report, The Next Wave: How Religious Extremism Is Regaining Power, during a high-profile event held on 26 June 2025 at the European Parliament in Brussels. The report analyzes the resurgence and transformation of anti-gender networks, focusing on how these groups have adapted their strategies, structures, and sources of funding over the past five years to expand their reach and political influence. EPF Executive presented the key findings, outlining how religious extremist actors, often working transnationally, are increasingly shaping public policy, undermining sexual and reproductive rights, and threatening long-standing progress on gender equality. The report warns that these movements are no longer operating at the margins. Instead, they are becoming more professionalized, better financed, and more integrated into mainstream political and institutional channels. It highlights how coordinated efforts across borders are facilitating a rollback of rights in several countries and pushing anti-gender narratives into national and EU-level policy debates. Read more here.
Source: EPF
