Sisters, friends, allies: today, we draw on the sacred legacy of Caribbean women, who have resisted, reclaimed, and are reshaping the world in the face of oppression. On this International Women’s Day, we honour the wisdom of our foremothers – caregivers, healers, labourers, community organisers, preachers, and warriors, who carried the fire for justice and freedom through generations.
To Accelerate Action for Gender Equality, we must critically assess and reshape power, policy, and action, dismantling the biased social norms that sustain inequality. In our region, discrimination against women and girls is too often accepted as ‘normal,’ while gender-based violence (GBV) and reproductive rights are dismissed as ‘women’s issues’—as’ if they do not impact the very foundations of our societies. The well-being of women and girls is inseparable from the health of our economies, communities, and future.
We know the truth! Reproductive justice is economic justice. The fight against GBV is a fight for democracy, dignity, and development. If half our population continues to be denied choices, safety, and voice, then we are failing—as governments, institutions, nations, and faith communities.
Where is the accountability? Where is the political will? Where is the commitment to our vulnerable women and girls?
Across the Caribbean, women and girls face an unacceptable reality where too many suffer in silence under the weight of sexual harassment, domestic abuse, sexual violence, and femicide. Too many are forced into motherhood before they are ready, stripped of the right to make decisions about their bodies and futures; and too many face economic exclusion, are paid less, valued less, and are pushed to the margins when we should be leading from the centre.
This is not inevitable. This is not culture. This is not “how things have always been.”
As Caribbean Religious Voices for Justice (CRVJ), we stand firm in our faith, guided by the prophetic witness of women who, throughout history, have challenged power, defied oppression, and ushered in transformation. Our call for gender and social justice is not separate from our faith; it is deeply rooted in the very essence of our belief in a God of righteousness and liberation.
The Bible is not silent on women’s leadership in the face of injustice. We draw strength from the midwives Shiphrah and Puah, who refused Pharaoh’s violent command (Exodus 1:15-21); the bold leadership of Esther, Deborah, a judge and prophet leading with wisdom, Miriam, who sang liberation into being; and Tamar, who demanded justice in the face of oppression. These women were not merely passive figures in history – they acted, resisted, and transformed their societies. Jesus himself shattered societal norms to restore dignity to women (Luke 8:43-48, John 8:1-11).
Like them, we too must speak and act boldly in this moment. Gender justice is not a side issue; it is a theological and moral imperative. We call on churches and faith leaders to stop using theology as a weapon of control and start using it as a force for love, justice, and liberation; and for people of conscience to reject silence, challenge systems of discrimination, and actively work towards a world where women and girls can thrive in dignity, security, and freedom. We call on governments and policymakers to stop the delays, stop the empty promises, and implement laws that protect women and girls.
If faith is to mean anything in the real world, then it must mean action to secure total transformation.
This International Women’s Day, we reaffirm our commitment to justice, equality, and the sacred right of all women to lead, to choose, and to live free from violence and oppression.
This International Women’s Day, we are not here for pleasantries or performative gestures. We are here for transformation. Sisters, friends, allies, the time is now. The work is sacred. The transformation is unstoppable.
#IWD2025 #FaithJustice #WomenLead #CRVJ
