What do Donald Trump, an Italian court and Jair Bolsonaro have in common? They have all suggested some women are too ugly to be sexually assaulted.

Brazil’s far-right, populist President Bolsonaro publicly abused a female lawmaker, shoving her and telling her she was “too ugly to deserve rape”. The US president suggested the women who have accused him of sexual assault are too ugly for him to attack. And an Italian appeals court initially overturned a rape verdict by arguing the woman who was attacked was too ugly to be a credible rape victim.

All of the above are examples of how unapologetically aggressive misogyny is pushing its way into the mainstream. This can be partly attributed to the lurch towards the far right that we have seen in recent years. From the parliamentary gains of far-right populist parties in Europe to those authoritarian demagogues that have gained power at the national level – such as in Brazil, Hungary, Poland, Turkey, the Philippines and the US – it is neither hyperbolic nor fearmongering to say the far right is growing.

And while there is no denying that the explosion of populist neo-fascism is troubling for many reasons, it’s also clear that women are not faring well from it. After all, male supremacy is at the very core of far-right ideologies.

Of course, it is not just women who are aggrieved by the rise of the far right. It is everyone. Even those who are taken in by the drug of fear, which sadly can be easier to digest and more intoxicating than hope, are hurt by it. This new breed of proto-fascism is not only sexist but also racist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic and ethno-nationalist, and we all suffer because of it.

#MeToo movement – In pictures Show all 24 1 /24 #MeToo movement – In pictures #MeToo movement – In pictures 2017 A picture shows the messages "#Me too" and #Balancetonporc ("expose your pig") on the hand of a protester during a gathering against gender-based and sexual violence called by the Effronte-e-s Collective, on the Place de la Republique square in Paris AFP #MeToo movement – In pictures 2018 Italian actress Asia Argento (C) and US singer and actress Rose McGowan, who both accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, take part in a march organised by 'Non Una Di Meno' (Me too) movement as part of the International Women's Day in Rome AFP/Getty #MeToo movement – In pictures 2017 Victims of sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual abuse and their supporters protest during a #MeToo march in Hollywood, California AFP/Getty #MeToo movement – In pictures 2018 South Korean women staging a monthly protest against secretly-filmed spycam pornography in Seoul. Since May 2018, the monthly demonstrations against secretly-filmed spycam pornography in Seoul has shattered records to become the biggest-ever women's protest in South Korea where the global #MeToo movement has unleashed an unprecedented wave of female-led activism AFP/Getty #MeToo movement – In pictures 2017 Swedish MEP Linnéa Engström sits behind a placard placed on her desk that reads "Me too" during a debate about combating sexual harassment and abuse in the EU at the European Parliament in Strasbourg AFP/Getty #MeToo movement – In pictures 2018 Activists participate in front of the Brandenburg Gate in a demonstration for women's rights in Berlin Getty #MeToo movement – In pictures 2018 A McDonald's employee holds a sign during a protest against sexual harassment in the workplace in Chicago AFP/Getty #MeToo movement – In pictures 2018 An activist participates in the 2018 #MeToo March in Hollywood Getty #MeToo movement – In pictures 2018 Women protest in New York Getty #MeToo movement – In pictures 2018 Women hold a banner reading "still feminist" with the Eiffel tower in background AFP/Getty #MeToo movement – In pictures 2017 French activist Jean-Baptiste Redde, aka Voltuan, holds a placard as protesters take part in a gathering against gender-based and sexual violence in Paris AFP/Getty #MeToo movement – In pictures 2018 Activists and advocates for survivors of sexual abuse, including Democratic candidate for Illinois governor at the time JB Prtizker (left), gather in the Federal Building Plaza to protest the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in Chicago, Illinois after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted out Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh and agreed to an additional week of investigation into accusations of sexual assault against him before the full Senate votes on his confirmation. Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were both teens Getty #MeToo movement – In pictures 2018 A group describing themselves as #MeToo/#YoTambien survivors, hold a candlelight vigil outside the Mexico Consulate to support the women taking part in the human caravan heading through Mexico to the US border AFP/Getty #MeToo movement – In pictures 2017 Victims of sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual abuse and their supporters protest during a #MeToo march in Hollywood AFP/Getty #MeToo movement – In pictures 2018 South Korean demonstrators hold banners during a rally to mark International Women's Day AFP/Getty #MeToo movement – In pictures 2018 Dozens of women and men attend a rally and march in Washington Square Park for international Women's Day in New York Getty #MeToo movement – In pictures 2017 People carry signs addressing the issue of sexual harassment at a #MeToo rally outside of Trump International Hotel in New York Getty #MeToo movement – In pictures 2017 Victims of sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual abuse and their supporters protest during a #MeToo march in Hollywood AFP/Getty #MeToo movement – In pictures 2018 South Korean demonstrators hold banners during a rally to mark International Women's Day AFP/Getty #MeToo movement – In pictures 2018 Dozens of protesters against the confirmation of Republican Supreme court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh gather outside of Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer's office on the afternoon that Professor Christine Blasey Ford testified against Kavanaugh in New York Getty #MeToo movement – In pictures 2018 Activists and advocates for survivors of sexual abuse gather in the Federal Building Plaza in Chicago Getty #MeToo movement – In pictures 2018 Dozens of women and men attend a rally and march in Washington Square Park Getty #MeToo movement – In pictures 2017 People carry signs addressing the issue of sexual harassment at a #MeToo rally outside of Trump International Hotel Getty #MeToo movement – In pictures 2018 Activists and advocates for survivors of sexual abuse gather in the Federal Building Plaza to protest the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh Getty

But these far-right leaders and the movements which are becoming increasingly emboldened – and legitimised – by their electoral success subscribe to a dangerously conspiratorial view of feminism, plagued by needless paranoia and mistrust that paints all feminists as misandrists, and sees feminism as an intrinsically toxic ideology vying for world domination at the expense of men’s needs, desires and goals.

Recently an ultra-conservative Spanish group used an image of Adolf Hitler wearing make-up with the symbol of feminism on his military cap to launch a grossly offensive bus campaign against feminism that branded women’s rights campaigners “feminazis”. If this is not proof of this kind of neurotically delusional thinking, I am not sure what is.

We must unpick where this warped, topsy-turvy view of victimhood stems from. Fascists might be getting better at PR and sugar-coating their views – after all, white supremacy has now been rechristened white nationalism and the far right is now the “alt right” – but the deeply problematic ideology that underpins their ideas has not changed.

The plan to achieve white male supremacy is strengthened by a focus on the “nuclear family” in which women are first and foremost breeding machines. This stretches back to the famous Nazi slogan Kinder, Kuche, Kirche, which was centred around Hitler’s belief that women’s lives should exist around children, cooking and church.

Women across the board – and in particular those who are not rich, white, straight and cisgender – are already being badly hurt. To put it simply, the rise of the far right means women’s basic rights are coming under fire from all angles. Freedoms we took for granted are being clamped down on.

Anti-abortion activists are waging war on women’s bodies in the US and trying their utmost to overturn Roe v Wade – the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalised abortion nationwide in America in 1973. This is by no means beyond the realms of possibility now that we have new conservative justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh – both Trump appointees – sitting on the Supreme Court.

Last month, legislation was introduced in Alabama that would make carrying out an abortion at any stage of the pregnancy punishable by 10 to 99 years inside the least sweet and homely place going: American jail. The strict abortion ban, which has been branded a “death sentence for women”, would even criminalise performing abortions in cases of rape and incest. Trump himself sparked mass fury on the campaign trail by calling for “some form of punishment” for women who have an abortion should it be outlawed in the US.

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Depressingly, the so-called free world is not alone; the backlash against women’s rights is a global phenomenon. We are seeing more and more policies explicitly championing the family in places like Italy, Brazil and Hungary. Viktor Orban, Hungary’s far-right prime minister, who has been called “Trump before Trump” by Steve Bannon, has proposed “a comprehensive agreement with Hungarian women” to bear more children. The leader, who has earned the moniker of “Viktator”, promotes debt-free education for women but only if they have at least three children.

Over in Spain, Vox, an anti-immigrant nationalist party gaining electoral clout, vilifies “gender ideology” as a threat to heteronormative, Christian and white family values. They want to annihilate subsidised feminist groups, create a Ministry of the Family and introduce “an organic law protecting the natural family, which shall be recognised as an institution that came before the state”. The party, which is making calls to abolish laws which protect abortion and gay marriage, and repeal gender measures, has declared “war to women” and seeks to turn them “into slaves at the service of men”, according to a manifesto signed by hundreds of feminist associations.

This hatred for feminists – which could arguably be linked to the recent rise of strongman-style leaders worldwide – was echoed by crowds at Bolsonaro rallies who chanted they would feed feminists dog food. And then you have world leaders like Filipino president Rodrigo Duterte, who has been called the “Donald Trump of the east”, “joking” to Filipino soldiers in 2017 that because he had declared martial law on the island of Mindanao, they could each rape up to three women with impunity.

I could keep going but you probably get the point. The far right is both belligerently and systematically attacking women’s rights. And while the far right spectrum is in no way a unified, monolithic global movement, parallels and patterns need to be drawn between the growing number of raging rabble-rousers who are managing to permeate the corridors of power.