Rights in question: the reconfiguration of equality policies in Argentina (2023–2025)

Abstract

This article aims to examine the impact of the political and discursive orientations adopted by the National Executive Branch in Argentina since December 2023 on gender equality policies. An exploratory-descriptive methodology with a mixed approach was employed, articulating documentary and discourse analysis with a survey of 100 key informants and semi-structured interviews. The main findings evidence a process of structural backsliding, manifested in the elimination of the Ministry of Women, Genders, and Diversity, the dismantling of territorial programs, and a critical budget cut in areas of sexual health and violence prevention. Likewise, it is identified that the “anti-woke” discourse operates as a legitimizing device for institutional de-articulation, generating perceptions of vulnerability and precariousness among women and LGBTIQ+ individuals. It is concluded that Argentina is undergoing a historical rupture in the state gender architecture that weakens effective access to rights; nevertheless, feminist resistance networks persist, attempting to sustain the achievements reached in a context of increasing social and political polarization.