The Accra Principles on the Protection of Black Women

A Call to Action for the Protection of Black Women – Sign the Petition to Support Change

We, a Global Alliance to Protect Black Women,

Representatives of whom will gather in Accra, Ghana, on 28th May 2025,

Recognising that protecting Black women and girls (collectively Black Women) requires a whole-of-society approach and that all peoples, regardless of their gender or ethnicity, share a joint and collective responsibility to combat racism and misogyny.

Affirming that all Black Women have the right to live in dignity and free from violence, exploitation, and discrimination, we, therefore, agree to the 7 Accra Principles to Protect Black Women.

1.    Protection in Health: Ensuring Black Women have equitable access to healthcare, addressing medical inequities, and eliminating discrimination in maternal care, mental health services, and medical research (The inequities suffered by Black Women, for example, in childbirth, through medical gaslighting, via data gaps in medical research & clinical trials and gender and racial algorithmic biases in a health context, in psychological care, and therapy & counselling must be addressed)

2.    Protection at Home: Combating gender-based violence, sexual exploitation, and ensuring equal distribution of labour within the home (The inequities suffered by Black Women, for example, with respect to gender-based violence (GBV), sexual abuse, exploitation, and unequal distribution of labour and access to property must be addressed.)

3.    Protection in Employment: Addressing unequal pay, workplace discrimination, and exclusionary labour practices that disproportionately affect Black women (The inequities suffered by Black Women, for example, in relation to unequal pay, misogynoir in the workplace, unfair dismissal, being looked over for promotion, microaggressions, exclusionary practices, labour practices in general, unpaid overtime, and disproportionate burdens must be addressed)

4.    Protection in Education: Promoting diversity in the curriculum, addressing racial bullying, and ensuring equal opportunities for Black Women in educational settings (The inequities suffered by Black Women, for example, as a result of a lack of representation in curriculum, exclusions, racial bullying, lack of access to tailored resources for neurodivergent individuals, and lack of representation in staff and management must be addressed.)

5.    Protection Economically: Ensuring financial independence, equitable access to credit, and protecting Black Women from discriminatory economic practices and discriminatory access to economic resources and opportunities (The inequities suffered by Black Women, for example, in relation to financial control, lack of control over assets, restricted access to credit, discriminatory funding and banking practices, and inheritance malpractice or discrimination must be addressed.)

6.    Protection under the Law: Addressing biases in the criminal justice system and ensuring that Black women’s legal rights are promoted, protected and ensured (The inequities suffered by Black Women, for example, as regards criminal justice discrimination, human rights abuse in detention, discrimination in civil litigation, unfair prosecutions, ability to file civil claims against perpetrators of misogynoir must be addressed.)

7.    Protection Online: Combating online abuse, misogynistic and racist content, and ensuring Black Women have access to and are protected in digital spaces (The inequities suffered by Black Women, for example, with respect to racist & misogynistic abuse online, gender and racial algorithmic bias online, bias in media, reinforcement of harmful stereotypes, and online harassment must be addressed.) We are resolutely committed to working collectively to eradicate all inequities and effectively address factors leading to the inequities Black Women suffer for the betterment of humanity.

Signatories: Ruth Abban, The Rt Hon Ms Diane Abbott, Dr. Muna Abdi, Dr. Barby Asante, Chizzy Akudolu, Lady Dentaa Amoateng MBE, Femma Ashraf, Dr. Frances Baawuah, Elaine Banton, Nicola Bennet, The Rt Hon Dawn Butler MP, Ngozi Cadmus, Prof. Meredith D. Clark, Dr. Ama Collison, Prof. Fay Cobb Payton, Prof. Renée Cummings, Professor April Dawson, Prof. Jessica Eaglin, Brenda Emmanus OBE, Christine Fostvedt-Mills (Founder PBW), Dr. Siobahn Grady, Jennifer M. Hayes, Dyann Heward-Mills (Founder PBW), Dr. Eiman Hussein, Afua Hirsch, Kanya King CBE, Tobi Kyeremateng, Dame Denise Lewis, Prof. Gail Lewis, Diane Littlejohn, Dr. Heather Melville OBE CMgr CCMI FCBI Partner, Stork & May Trustee and Senior Advisor, Entrepreneur Chancellor of York University, Charlotte Mensah, Prof. Nicole Morris, Izzy Obeng, Leanne Pero MBE, Prof. Leah Perry, Julia Regis, Nova Reid, The Rt Hon Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Lesley Sackey, Emeli Sandé MBE, Dr. Nydia Swaby, Foluke Taylor (Founder PBW), Ramat Tejani, Sharon Thomas, Carroll Thompson, Nicol Turner-Lee, Ericka Watson US.