As we mark International Women’s Day 2025 under the powerful theme “For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment,” we are reminded that the struggle for gender equality remains an urgent and unfinished journey.
This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the groundbreaking Beijing Conference, where the global community first declared that “women’s rights are human rights a milestone in which Ghana’s former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings played a pivotal yet often uncelebrated role. Drawing inspiration from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s powerful manifesto, this moment calls on each of us regardless of gender to embrace feminism not as a divisive ideology but as a fundamental human rights imperative.
The Legacy We Stand On
The freedoms women enjoy today were not freely given but hard-won through generations of feminist activism:
The suffragettes who endured imprisonment, force-feeding, and public ridicule to secure women’s right to vote
Labour activists who fought for equal pay legislation and workplace protections
Educational reformers who unlocked university doors previously barred to women
Health advocates who championed women’s reproductive autonomy
Legal pioneers who criminalized domestic violence and sexual harassment
Three decades ago at the Beijing Conference, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings stood among world leaders advocating for women’s empowerment and gender equality across Africa. Her work establishing the 31st December Women’s Movement in Ghana created a foundation for women’s economic independence and political participation achievements that history has not adequately recognized.
Each of these victories represents countless women who refused to accept the limitations society placed upon them. Their courage paved the way for expanded opportunities that many now take for granted the right to open a bank account without a male co-signer, to pursue any career path, to exist in public spaces without explicit permission.
The Crisis We Face
Despite this progress, the horrific reality of femicide the gender-motivated killing of women and girls continues to plague communities across Africa and globally. The recent murder of Joana Deladem Yabani, a final-year Biological Sciences student at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, is not an isolated incident but part of an alarming pattern.
We cannot forget the devastating case of celebrated Nigerian musician Osinachi Nwachukwu, allegedly beaten to death by her husband a tragedy made more painful by reports that church leaders had advised her to remain in the abusive relationship. The church, meant to be a sanctuary, too often becomes complicit in silencing women’s suffering in the name of preserving marriage at all costs.
What makes these tragedies even more disturbing is the tendency to justify violence against women. Social media posts attempting to rationalize such brutality reveal the persistent belief that women’s lives are conditional dependent on their behaviour, relationships, or adherence to societal expectations.
This is precisely why feminism remains essential. When a woman’s right to life itself is questioned, we cannot pretend that equality has been achieved.
The Work That Remains
The UN’s International Women’s Day 2025 theme “For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment” reinforces that true progress must include everyone, leaving no woman or girl behind. Achieving this vision requires confronting entrenched double standards that persist in our daily lives:
We raise girls to aspire to marriage while boys are encouraged to pursue ambition
We police women’s clothing in the name of “safety” while boys are permitted self-expression
We label assertive women as “aggressive” or “arrogant” while men with identical behavior are praised as “confident leaders”
We blame victims of sexual violence for their own assaults instead of holding perpetrators accountable
As Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie powerfully states in “We Should All Be Feminists”: “Gender as it functions today is a grave injustice. We should all be angry. Anger has a long history of bringing about positive change. But I am also hopeful, because I believe deeply in the ability of human beings to remake themselves for the better.”
This comprehensive approach acknowledges that different women face different challenges based on their intersecting identities, and our solutions must be equally nuanced.
Why We Must All Be Feminists
Feminism is not about reversing power dynamics or elevating women above men. It is about creating societies where gender does not determine worth, opportunity, or safety. When we say “we must all be feminists,” we acknowledge that gender equality benefits everyone. Patriarchal systems that enable violence against women also harm men by enforcing rigid masculinity that discourages emotional expression and perpetuates cycles of violence.
The most powerful aspect of Adichie’s vision is its inclusivity feminism belongs to all who believe in human dignity. It requires us to examine our own biases, to listen to women’s experiences without defensiveness, and to use whatever privilege we possess to create more equitable communities. In her words: “Culture does not make people. People make culture. If it is true that the full humanity of women is not our culture, then we can and must make it our culture.”
As we commemorate International Women’s Day 2025 and the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Conference, let us move beyond symbolic gestures. Real change demands daily commitment to rights, equality, and empowerment:
Speak out against misogynistic language and jokes, even in religious spaces where they may be cloaked in tradition
Believe women when they share experiences of discrimination or harassment
Support organizations working to prevent gender-based violence
Hold institutions including churches, mosques, and temples accountable for gender equity
Raise children without the limiting gender expectations that teach girls to shrink and boys to dominate
In the face of continuing femicide and the disturbing reality that some still justify violence against women, we cannot afford complacency. The most fitting tribute to pioneers of women’s rights from the Beijing Conference participants to victims of gender-based violence like Osinachi Nwachukwu and Joana Deladem Yabani is to continue their work with renewed determination.
We must all be feminists because the promise of full human dignity remains unfulfilled so long as any woman lives in fear. The freedom to exist without violence is not a privilege to be earned but a fundamental right to be guaranteed.
The struggle continues. And in this struggle, we need everyone to ensure that rights, equality, and empowerment become realities for ALL women and girls. As Chimamanda reminds us: “We can do better. We must do better.”
Bridget Mensah is the Head of PR & Events at GMABC and also an advocate for women empowerment, she is also the senior editor for FemInStyle Africa a feminist Magazine
