On the occasion of International Women's Day (IWD 2026), the fight for the protection of Ivorian women has reached a crucial stage. The ComFéministes coalition, led by Marie-Paule Okri, has officially called on the authorities to enshrine the term "femicide" in the country's legal framework.

Naming is better than ignoring.

For these activists, the issue is primarily symbolic and statistical. Femicide should no longer be confused with simple homicide or a "crime of passion." It is the murder of a woman specifically because she is a woman .

“Women murdered simply because they were women. This crime has a name. This crime is called femicide,” Marie-Paule Okri insisted.

The lack of a clear legal definition leads to a dramatic underestimation of the phenomenon. By reclassifying these acts as accidents or family disputes, the system renders these victims invisible a second time in the national statistics.

Tragedies that leave a lasting impression.

The coalition's plea is based on recent tragedies that have shaken Ivorian public opinion. Two future nurses lost their lives at the hands of their partners:

1. Trano Grâce (student at INFAS in Abidjan), killed in Port-Bouët.
2. Bossé Annick (student at INFAS in Abengourou), murdered in a private apartment.

For ComFéministes, these shattered lives illustrate a system of domination that goes beyond the scope of a simple news item.

An action plan to break the silence

Relying on Article 15 of the Ivorian Constitution , which commits the State to protecting women, the activists are demanding concrete reforms:

1. Judicial reform: Better training for law enforcement and faster processing of gender-based violence cases.
2. Increased severity: The adoption of exemplary sanctions against perpetrators of femicide.
3. Transparency: The production of official and regular statistics on these crimes.
4. Education: Integrating equality and human rights into school curricula from an early age.

By joining nations like Mexico, Spain, and Canada, Ivory Coast would send a powerful message: one of zero tolerance for misogynistic barbarity. As the coalition concludes: “Their lives mattered. Their deaths must matter. The law must say so.”