Although there has been a global diffusion of progressive policies addressing women’s issues, these are often created in a context of policy rivals and are vulnerable to setbacks. In 2012, Nicaragua passed “Law 779,” the Comprehensive Law on Violence against Women, but the government subsequently dismantled its progressive elements. While much scholarly literature focuses on progressive policy advances, policy reversals receive less attention. Through an in-depth case study of the 779 Law in Nicaragua, Shannon Drysdale Walsh confirms major findings in existing scholarship by providing additional evidence that vulnerability to external pressure, inclusion of progressive policy advocates, and advocacy from key government actors make progressive policy reforms more likely, even when conservative opposition from policy rivals exists. Walsh moves beyond current scholarship by demonstrating that progressive policies are also vulnerable to reversal under the opposite conditions: when there is reduced vulnerability to external pressure, exclusion of progressive policy advocates, and reduced advocacy from key government actors in the face of increased pressure from conservative opposition. Ultimately, Walsh argues that the conditions that promote progressive policies are more likely to be present at the policy creation stage, but less likely to be present at the policy implementation stage, making progressive policies particularly vulnerable to reversal in contentious contexts.