How Anti-gender Movements Are Sabotaging Public Health: The Example of the HPV Vaccine

Anti-gender movements, under the guise of protecting “family values”, increasingly spread misinformation that undermines gender equality and endangers public health – especially when it comes to vaccination against HPV, which is crucial in the fight against cervical cancer.

In the shadow of loud campaigns that arouse distrust in vaccines and general distrust in institutions, another, often hidden source of resistance to public health measures is growing – anti-gender movements.

Anti-gender movements are social and political movements that oppose gender equality and the concept that gender is socially constructed and not necessarily determined by biology. These movements often target: the rights of LGBTQ+ people, sex education based on rights and scientific facts and activities that promote feminism, and inclusive policies in education, health and legislation.

The Link Between HPV and Cancer: The Science Behind the Vaccine

Although at first glance it seems that their goals are purely ideological, their actions have direct and dangerous consequences, especially when it comes to the prevention of diseases such as cervical cancer.

This type of cancer is, in fact, in most cases caused by high-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV). However, the cancers and diseases that HPV can cause are not gender-specific – these viruses can also cause cancer of the penis, anal region, mouth, throat, and vulva. Of the over 200 types of HPV, several are associated with cancer and are described in medicine as “high-risk”, while some other types do not cause precancerous and cancerous changes, but can cause unsightly and unpleasant genital warts, condylomas.

What these viruses have in common is that they are most often transmitted through intimate contact, and HPV-induced changes are actually one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases. Intimate intercourse, of course, is not the only way of transmission, but it is the most common, precisely because of the sensitivity of these regions.

The connection between the human papilloma virus (HPV) and cervical cancer has been known for decades, it was discovered by the German virologist Harald zur Hausen, and for this discovery he received the Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology in 2008.

This discovery paved the way for the creation of a vaccine. The HPV vaccine, which is safe, effective and recommended by all relevant health institutions, has been the target of moral panic. Anti-gender movements claim that vaccination “sexualizes children”, that “family values are destroyed”, and even that it is a “eugenics project”. These theses have no scientific basis, but they are successfully spread through social networks, religious communities and quasi-media portals.

Just some of the common tropes found in comments below content about the scientific basis and importance of HPV vaccines are that these vaccines encourage promiscuity in young people instead of preserving chastity and that they cause sterility.

What Is the Situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina With Cervical Cancer: In Short – Creepy

In countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the public health system is already fragile, such messages have serious consequences. Parents, exposed to misinformation, increasingly refuse to vaccinate their children – not out of rational fear, but out of moral confusion. This directly threatens the preventive potential of the vaccine, which can prevent several types of cancer, including the one that annually claims dozens of women's lives in Bosnia and Herzegovina. To make matters worse, research by the Association for Colposcopy and Cervical Cancer Pathology of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina shows that in this BiH. In the entity, the incidence of cervical cancer increased by as much as 54% in the last year.

“The average frequency of this disease is 53 cases per 100,000 women, and in the last year alone, an increase of as much as 54 percent was recorded compared to the previous year. The incidence rate in 2023 is 72 affected women per 100,000, which is far above the European average, and even above countries with limited health resources such as Zambia or Tanzania, where the frequency of this disease is 60 per 100,000 women.” said Mahira Jahić, MD, specialist in gynecology and obstetrics, president of the Association for Colposcopy and Cervical Cancer Pathology.

In Scandinavian countries, this incidence is around 10 cases per 100,000 women.

Efficacy and Safety of HPV Vaccine

The vaccine against the human papillomavirus, given at the age before sexual intercourse, according to studies that followed vaccinated persons for a long time, reduced the risk of cervical cancer by almost 90%. In addition to the vaccine, an important way to prevent development is regular examinations – Pap test and colposcopy if necessary, with the aim of early detection of changes on the cervix.

Another important thing about these vaccines is that they create immunity that is better and longer lasting than immunity after a natural infection. HPV vaccines were first approved in 2006 in the USA, and already in 2007 they entered the immunization programs of several more advanced countries such as Australia, the United Kingdom and the USA. So, they are given for about 20 years, and it is already known that immunity lasts at least ten years.

More than 500 million doses of these vaccines have been given in the world so far and no serious side effects related to the administration of this vaccine have been recorded. The most common side effects are the usual ones – pain and swelling, redness at the injection site.

The Overlap of Anti-gender, Anti-vaccination and Anti-science Movements and Ideologies

Then why is there resistance to this vaccine, if it literally saves from suffering, it saves in the health system because, although this vaccine is quite expensive, it is still cheaper than therapy for cervical changes and cancer?

The most common theses and misinformation are those that appeal to emotions, and it is difficult to fight them with the rational means of science. Parents’ fear that their child will engage in sexual relations, which otherwise carry with them the risk of disease and unwanted pregnancy, or the fear that they will somehow harm the child's fertility are rationalized fears that exist in all of us – fear of death and fear that our family tree line will not be extended.

Anti-gender movements often collaborate or overlap with anti-vaccination networks and political ideologies, using the same channels of communication and the same rhetorical techniques: conspiracy theories, distrust of international institutions, and emotionally charged stories. Where movements that attack women's reproductive rights, especially the right to abortion, but also bodily autonomy in general, are gaining strength, there are also strong narratives against HPV vaccines.

According to the Annual Report on Infectious Diseases and Immunization of the Federation of BiH for 2024, the lowest number of HPV vaccine doses was given in the West Herzegovina Canton, only three for the first dose and two for the second dose.

Coincidentally or not, this is the canton with perhaps one of the greatest influences of the anti-abortion movement, and in this canton, patients seeking abortions are referred to the University Clinical Hospital Mostar, in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, according to the Sarajevo Open Center (SOC) Research on the Regulation, Availability and Practice of Abortion in BiH.

According to the SOC's 2025 Orange Report, which refers to 2022-2024. year, in Bosnia and Herzegovina there are now at least ten organizations and other initiatives that want to influence women's decisions about abortion, and with the help of domestic budgets and the support of large international conservative organizations, reduce the possibilities or completely ban abortion. The research conducted by SOC in cooperation with BIRN/Detektor analyzes the activities of these actors, their methods of communication and financing.

“These are individuals, formal and informal groups, organizations and foundations that oppose the possibility of abortion on demand, and some of them advocate a ban through changing the law. In addition, they try to influence the attitude towards abortion among decision makers or the general public through organizing public events, campaigns, protests or communication on social networks. This communication is full of misinformation and the manipulation strategies they use can have a demotivating effect on the decision to terminate an unwanted pregnancy ,” the report states.

Awareness and Unawareness of HPV, Stigmatization and Clerical Influence

Research [1] conducted in the USA regarding information about HPV and attitudes about HPV vaccines among conservatives, moderates and liberals, showed a significant gap between these sides of the political spectrum:

• USA: 77.1% of liberals said they were familiar with HPV and the vaccine.
• 63.6% of moderates said they were aware of HPV and 58.3% of them said they knew about HPV vaccines
• 59.0% and 57.6% of conservatives reported being aware of HPV and HPV vaccines.

A 2025 survey in BiH on citizen awareness of HPV showed that only 4% of citizens are aware of the actual prevalence of this virus, 50% do not know how HPV is transmitted, and 60% of citizens do not believe they have been in contact with HPV.

Conservative and anti-gender movements, religious circles often spread misinformation about vaccines, especially the human papillomavirus vaccine. At the same time, stigmatization of women suffering from pre-cancer and cervical cancer, who are called promiscuous, comes from this milieu . These circles ignore the fact that HPV infection can be acquired during first sexual intercourse and during marriage.

Just some of the sentences addressed to women who complained in the public space of social networks about having changes in their cervix were: “Don't change partners like socks and there will be no problem. Pay attention to that spiritual moment between a man and a woman”, “Too many changes in partners lead to this“, “As far as I understand, HPV is contracted by changing partners, Pap smears and colposcopy have nothing to do with it“.

When talking about misinformation and the gender perspective on these vaccines, there is a narrative that is repeated even in expert circles and in media appearances, and it is heard that “men only transmit the virus, but do not get sick, while only women get sick”. However, men can get both genital warts and cancer caused by this virus. There is a well-known case of actor Michael Douglas, who publicly said that his throat cancer was caused by HPV.

This means that misinformation about HPV and HPV vaccines does no one any good in the long run because men are portrayed as the evil spreaders and women as the sole victims. It should also be added that by protecting against changes in the cervix, these vaccines actually protect fertility. Because it is precisely that small part of the uterus, that neck, the cervix , that is responsible for keeping the pregnancy and preventing premature birth, while the fetus has not yet formed.

A Female Vaccine and a Vaccine That “Damages Virgins”?

There is something else that makes HPV vaccines a target of anti-gender movements, and that is their presentation as a “vaccine for women”, precisely because of the focus of the public health sector on reducing the number of cervical cancer cases.

And while this focus is extremely important, because the victims of the infection are primarily women, a gender-neutral approach to vaccination would reduce this ideological “feminization” of this vaccine and reduce the transmission of the virus by cutting the path of spread and creating collective immunity.

Anti-gender, religious circles like to portray vaccines as something impure, chemical, inorganic that contaminates the human being, created by God as perfect. Thus, the propaganda film Sacrificial Virgins amplifies misinformation about how girls vaccinated against HPV remain paralyzed, that is, the narrative is served about how “the vaccine rapes purity and innocence” and raises a great wave of panic.

Croatia and Serbia – What Is the Situation in the Neighborhood?

In Croatia, Dr. Lidija Gajski, otherwise known for her anti-vaccine views, wrote an article in 2014 in which she labeled HPV vaccines as “unnecessary, useless, and harmful.” Gajski is close to the anti-vaccination and clerical anti-horde movements and the HURA association, which spreads misinformation about vaccines. Her opinions are published by Glas Koncila and the Braniteljski.hr portal (clerical and far-right websites in Croatia).

Lidija Gajski is also being referred to by the Croatian politician from the center-right Most party, theologian Marin Miletić. He uses popular social networks like TikTok to spread misinformation, fear, and distrust of HPV vaccines. In one such video, Miletić quotes Gajski, calls for “the other side to be heard,” for public debates to be initiated, and for the documentary that the HURA Association was broadcasting on this topic to be watched, which was most likely Sacrificial Virgins. Incidentally, Miletić has repeatedly spoken out publicly against the rights of LGBTIQ people and put members of this movement in the same category as pedophiles.

In Croatia, HPV vaccination among young people remains low – according to HZJZ data from 2023, around 60% of girls and only around 30% of eighth-grade boys received this vaccine, even though it is free and recommended.

“One of the factors that contributes to skepticism towards vaccination is the opposition of some religious circles ,” said Nenad Jarić Dauenhauer, scientific journalist of the Index.hr portal.

“Don Anđelko Kaćunko, a Christian conservative, stated that ‘girls are guinea pigs for the HPV vaccine’, insinuating that it is a global experiment. He described the campaign as a ‘papill campaign’ that spreads the ‘depraved ideology of the global porn lobby’. A similar view is held by doctor Antun Lisec, who in a letter to schools linked vaccination to promiscuity and spiritual harm, wondering whether vaccinated boys would still want to become priests if they ‘opted for premarital heterosexual or homosexual relations’. Such attitudes hinder public health efforts in the fight against HPV-caused cancer.“, Jarić Dauenhauer pointed out.

Don Kaćunko also questioned the connection between HPV and malignant changes and said that in the campaign, children from veterans’ families were first vaccinated and labeled it as a form of experiment.

In Serbia, psychiatrist Dr. Jovana Stojković, who is a vocal opponent of vaccination in a wider range and a member of the right-wing movement “I live for Serbia” (Živim za Srbiju) that promotes traditional values, especially the traditional family, and opposes the rights of LGBTIQ people, spread inaccurate opinions about the ineffectiveness of HPV vaccines, while at the same time targeting several feminists, such as Marija Ratković:

In this example, Stojković used misinformation spread by the current US Minister of Health Robert F Kennedy Jr (RFK), otherwise the flagship of the MAHA movement (Make America Healthy Again) who dissolved the vaccine committee, tries to prove that vaccines cause autism and actually represents all possible anti-vaccination and anti-scientific positions.

Anyone who knows how to read statistics will not see anything scandalous about the fact that the cancer incidence curve is rising and the highest incidence is in the years of sexually active and reproductive phase in women and men. Relatively high values usually occur about 10 years after the start of sexual relations. However, most people only see the increase, but they do not actually look at the numbers on the x-axis of the graph – that the incidence is in the most risky period, 6 per 100,000 women. Let us recall the numbers from the beginning of this text, that in the FBiH the incidence is a staggering 72 per 100,000 women in 2023. and in Serbia it is 26-27 affected women per 100,000

Children's Health Defense, an anti-vaccination group run by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. it received 23.5 million dollars in contributions, donations and other income in 2022 alone. RFK's current position in the administration of President Donald Trump also means that he is close to the creators of the conservative agenda Project 2025 and other conservative and anti-gender movements. Otherwise, the anti-vaccination and anti-scientific and anti-gender ideology is closely related to the ultra-Catholic, anti-abortion movements, Mormons and various congregations of evangelical churches such as the Pentecostal Church and televangelists and promoters of the concept of traditional women (trad-wife). All these groups actively participate in the limitation of women's rights, the rights of LGBTIQ persons, pro-life ideology and demonization of vaccines.

“Anti-vaccine movements have a long history of anti- and pseudo-scientific reasoning and sensationalist reporting. Likewise, anti-vaccine and anti-gender movements cooperate internationally. Thus, Jovana Stojković will quote RFK when she needs to, regardless of the fact that she may not support the West or America. The trick of anti-vaxxer groups is that they address people who do not know enough about the subject, do not have or do not know the data, and tends to cause a shock effect“, said Marija Ratković. journalist, feminist and activist.

She points out that the anti-vaccination and anti-gender movements use the selection of data that speaks in support of their theses (the so-called “cherry-picking“), and the data is deliberately inaccurately, incompletely stated and misinterpreted or completely falsified.

“Additionally, they often use various testimonies that tend to evoke emotions, and sad human stories are a tried-and-tested media concept from tabloids and reality shows that generate a mass audience. It is characteristic for them that they have behind them industries that really need a mass audience. In Serbia, political ambitions are common and always with the government, but as we can see, this is global logic and in America we are not surprised by RFK's arrival at the head of the health sector under the Trump administration“, added Ratković.

After the performance of Jovana Stojković and her pursuit of journalist Jovana Gligorijević and Marija Ratković, the ethics section of the Serbian Medical Chamber issued an apology.

However, as Ratković adds, “to this day, the chamber has not revoked the medical licenses of any of the anti-vaxxer doctors“.

“In a conversation with representatives of the WHO in Serbia, it was mentioned that medicine is an organized system and those who are not convinced that this system works should simply not wear a white coat, but should dedicate themselves to treatment through other systems. It is that simple. However, many cannot resist the power and authority of the white coat, it is an integral part of their sales machinery. I often jokingly say that the comprehensive health system from the Yugoslavian period also gave one peculiarity to the local anti-vaxxer movements, which is that our people he does not agree to any authorities and even demands a medical degree from anti-vaxxers “, concluded Ratković.

Although on opposite fronts of far-right movements, Croatian and Serbian right-wingers are united in sabotaging public health, along with western right-wingers like MAGA/MAHA (despite the fact that Serbian right-wingers are disliked by NATO and the USA). So Jovana Stojković will gladly and often quote Lidija Gajski. These movements cooperate, communicate and support each other on some issues.

Disinformation Kills.

Anti-gender narratives are not just a matter of ideology – they become a matter of life and death. That is why it is the responsibility of health authorities, but also of the media, to continuously expose these destructive messages clearly, loudly and with arguments. A common problem of health institutions is that they do not want to deal with such disinformation, because sometimes they do not have the resources or the communication knowledge, and sometimes they find it too absurd to expose, not to mention “beyond honor”.

The fight for the HPV vaccine is not only a fight for health – it is a fight against the dangerous trend of mixing ideology with medicine, desecularization of society and limiting the right, not only of women but of everyone, to health.

References:

[1] Chido-Amajuoyi OG, Onyeaka H, Amonoo H, Shete S. The influence of political ideology on awareness of HPV and HPV vaccine among adults in the United States. Hum Vaccine Immunother. 2023 Aug 1;19(2):2232706. doi: 10.1080/21645515.2023.2232706. PMID: 37529922; PMCID: PMC10399468.

This content was produced and published with the support of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Sarajevo office. The content is the sole responsibility of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Heinrich Böll Foundation.

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