Brussels, 26 June 2025 – The latest report The Next Wave: How Religious Extremism Is Reclaiming Power from the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights (EPF), exposes an alarming rise in funding for anti-rights and anti-gender movements across Europe, amounting to US$1.18 billion between 2019 and 2023. The report reveals how religious extremists are making a strategic effort to enter mainstream politics by forming coalitions with anti-gender equality organisations, church-run NGOs (ChONGOs) and far-right populist parties. Authored by Neil Datta, Executive Director of EPF, the report reveals an intricate network of 275 actors driving a transnational, authoritarian transformation of Europe under the guise of 'tradition' and ‘human dignity’.
Building on the findings of the Tip of the Iceberg (2021) report, The Next Wave tracks funding from 2019 to 2023 for organisations working to undermine sexual and reproductive rights in Europe. These financial findings are linked to a qualitative analysis of recent developments within the transnational anti-gender movement across five dimensions: religious hierarchies, civil society, political arena, knowledge production, and geopolitics. In addition to increased political engagement by religious extremists, the report also describes new strategies of SRHR contestation through the deployment of alternative ‘anti-gender services’, as well as the emergence of church-organised NGOs (ChONGOs), and a specialised industry of shadowy power brokers for the far-right.
“The scale of financial resources, international coordination, and political integration of anti-gender actors is unprecedented. This isn’t a backlash or a culture war. Pushback against decades of progress in gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights is at the centre of the far-right's strategy for gaining power across Europe”, Neil Datta, Executive Director, EPF
Key Findings:
- Between 2019 and 2023, funding equivalent to a total of US$1.18 billion originated from 275 actors involved in anti-gender initiatives in Europe. More than half of this funding came from 28 countries in Europe, followed by the Russian Federation and US-based organisations.
- The Russian Federation is the single biggest funder of anti-gender movements, with Russian actors receiving an equivalent of US$ 211.9 million between 2019 and 2023. This funding has, however, turned inward to propel domestic initiatives, as COVID-19, sanctions and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine interrupted open collaboration between Russian and European anti-gender movements.
- At least US$171 million in anti-gender funding can be traced back to public funding, including state budgets and EU-linked funds.
- U.S. Christian Right spending in Europe represents a stable investment at around US$ 22M annually: “Across the Atlantic, the US Christian Right has gone beyond influencing policy, it’s writing it”, says Neil Datta, “Trump’s second presidency, with Christian Right loyalists installed across government, has turned American power into a global megaphone for religious extremism”.
Report Launch Details:
The report was officially launched on 26 June 2025 at the European Parliament in Brussels, in an event co-hosted by Members of the European Parliament Elżbieta Łukacijewska (EPP, Poland), Alexandra Geese (Greens/EFA, Germany), Lucia Yar (Renew Europe, Slovakia), and Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus (S&D, Poland). Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus (S&D, Poland) opened the event with a compelling statement highlighting the EU’s vital role in upholding democracy and promoting gender equality.
"The Next Wave report is a wake-up call. It shows us, with undeniable evidence, how anti-gender movements are evolving - better funded, more coordinated, and increasingly influential within our democratic institutions. This research is only the first step. Now it’s time for the European Union to respond with clear, strategic action. Defending gender equality and fundamental rights must remain at the heart of our European project", Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus MEP (S&D, Poland)
During the event, EPF President and French MP Hon. Guillaume Gouffier Valente highlighted the urgency of countering the anti-gender movement:
“The Next Wave is not coming; it is already here. It is the march of radical religious ideas from the fringes to the centre of political power, where they are increasingly attempting to shape laws and public discourse across Europe and beyond”, Hon. Guillaume Gouffier Valente, President, EPF (MP, France)
Hon. Valente was followed by Professor David Paternotte of the Université libre de Bruxelles, a leading academic in gender studies, who offered a scholarly analysis of the report’s implications for democracy and human rights in Europe.
Get full access to the report here
For any additional information, please contact:
Chiara Sammito, EPF Communications Officer
communications@epfweb.org | www.epfweb.org
Vladislav Veližanin, Advocacy Associate
Vladislav@epfweb.org | www.epfweb.org
About the author:
Neil Datta is the founder and Executive Director of the European Parliamentary Forum on Sexual and Reproductive Rights (EPF). Since creating the Forum in 2004 alongside a group of dedicated European lawmakers, he has guided its growth into a 30-country alliance that has helped shape dozens of national laws, policies, and budgets in support of reproductive rights — both in Europe and in low- and middle-income countries. An internationally recognised expert on the rise of anti-gender and anti-rights movements, Neil has authored several influential reports that have informed the work of civil society groups, journalists, international organizations, and elected officials. Neil’s work has been acknowledged with awards including the 2022 Don and Arvonne Fraser Human Rights Award and the 2023 French Senate Women’s Delegation prize for his role in supporting the constitutional protection of abortion in France.
About EPF:
The European Parliamentary Forum on Sexual and Reproductive Rights (EPF) is a network of parliamentarians committed to advancing global health, gender equality, and human rights. Its Global Parliamentary Alliance for Health, Rights and Development (GPA), launched in 2019, brings together over 160 parliamentarians and numerous parliamentary working groups from across Europe and the Global South.