He made the call during a panel discussion dubbed "The Tyranny of Niceness" organised by the US Embassy to commemorate this year's International Women's Day celebration, which falls on March 8.

The forum brought together students from some selected Senior High Schools in the Greater Accra region to mark the day.

He said traditionally women were conditioned to behave and be nice, which he said was the root cause of women's social problems including sexual harassment, abuse and rape.

"Society has raised people to be nice to the extent that even if someone is cheating in examinations, no one reports. That is why we grow up and steal from our work place and no one prosecutes us," he said.

Mr Kyei-Berko said the concept of being nice had really affected us and emphasised the need for all to come on board to give women what was due them."The fact that you are a woman does not give anybody the right to discriminate against you in any field" he said and called for respect for women as well as give them the necessary support to succeed in all endeavours.

He said the world have coined a picture to make women inferior, which he said was wrong, adding that "what will be the use of the head without the legs or the arms" and called for re-orientation to change those stereotypes.

Mr Roberto Quiroz II, Counsellor for Public Affairs, US Embassy, said women should be encourage to do their best in all spheres to achieve their dreams, adding, "they must be given the support to dream high and work towards achieving it".

He said marriage as an institution was perfect but it was wrong to teach the girl-child to see it as an achievement.

"If they are to marry, they should look for partners that they are compatible with otherwise their marriage will be in chaos".

Mr Ouiroz urged the students, especially the females to take their studies seriously and work hard to achieve their aim.

He emphasised the need for women to support each other and celebrate the successes of others.

Mr Andrew Ekuban, the Assistant to the American Centre, said "we lived in a world that some people think women are inferior, weak and therefore must be denied their due".

He said until these negative mentality about women ceased, there would be no meaningful development across the globe.

He also reiterated the need to assist women to redefine their thoughts to become "who they are and not what the society thinks about them".

Some of the male students were of the view that the women empowerment campaign message needed to be restructured to get more men on board as well as to correct the wrong notions of women wanting to get everything on silver platter.