- Icelandic women’s protest.
- Gender equality issues.
- Historical and ongoing impact.
On Tuesday, tens of thousands of Icelandic women will abstain from work, including Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir.
A day off for women, known as “kvennafrí,” has been organized as a form of protest against gender-based violence and the gender pay disparity.
Sectors where women comprise the preponderance of the workforce, including education and healthcare, are particularly impacted.
The Historical Context: From 1975 to 2023
Since 1975, the planned boycott will be the first all-day women’s strike.
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On Tuesday, women and non-binary individuals have been encouraged to abstain from paid and unpaid labor, including domestic duties.
Certain primary schools and preschools have opted to close, whereas others have scaled back the services they provide. Additionally, certain zoos, city libraries, and museums are impacted.
Prior to the demonstration, Iceland prime minister, Ms. Jakobsdóttir, stated on the mbl.is website, “I will abstain from working today, and I expect the same of all the female cabinet members.”
Ms. Jakobsdóttir said her administration is comparing male-dominated and female-dominated fields.
As per the findings of the Icelandic Teachers’ Union, the teaching workforce is predominantly female across all educational tiers, with 94% of kindergarten instructors being female.
The National University Hospital of Iceland, the largest in the nation, employs approximately 80% female personnel.
According to strike organiser Kristín Ástgeirsdóttir, violence against women persists despite improved gender equality in the country.
According to this theory, as gender equality increased, violence decreased. “Unfortunately, this appears not to be the case,” she continued, adding, “Our culture is deeply ingrained with violence against women.”
Iceland has been ranked the most gender-equal nation by the WEF for fourteen years. However, while the nation is not entirely equitable, the WEF has assigned it a 91.2% overall score.
“We are attempting to draw attention to the fact that despite being referred to as an equality paradise, there are still gender disparities and an urgent need for action,” one of the strike organizers, Freyja Steingrímsdóttir, was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Iceland’s Ongoing Struggle for Gender Equality
In terms of economic participation, the volcanic island, which is among the least populous nations, is positioned fourteenth globally, falling behind nations such as Liberia, Jamaica, and Norway.
The Legacy of the 1975 Strike
Seventy percent of the female labor force in Iceland went on strike in 1975 to draw attention to the economic significance of women. The following year, the nation’s parliament passed an equitable pay law in response to the strike.
Former Icelandic president Vigdís Finnbogadóttir called the 1975 strike “the initial stride towards women’s emancipation in Iceland” in 2015. This achievement later enabled Finnbogadóttir to become the first woman to be democratically elected as head of state worldwide in 1980.
