Icelandic women strike against gender injustice

Tens of thousands of Icelandic women, including the prime minister, held a strike from paid and unpaid jobs on Tuesday (23 October) in a protest against gender inequality, according to labour unions.

Iceland is regarded as one of the world’s most progressive countries in terms of gender equality and has topped the World Economic Forum’s gender gap index 14 years in a row.

But in some industries and professions, women earn at least 20% less than Icelandic men, according to Statistics Iceland.

Forty percent of Icelandic women experience gender-based and sexual violence in their lifetime, a University of Iceland study found.

“We’re seeking to bring attention to the fact that we’re called an equality paradise, but there are still gender disparities and urgent need for action,” said Freyja Steingrímsdóttir, a strike organiser and the communications director for the Icelandic Federation for Public Workers.

Under the slogan ‘Do you call this equality?’, Icelandic women and non-binary individuals went on their first full-day strike in 48 years. In 1975, 90% of Icelandic women stopped work to protest gender inequality.

“Female-led professions such healthcare services and childcare are still undervalued and much lower paid,” Steingrímsdóttir told Reuters.

Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir has told Icelandic media that she participates in the strike and will not come to work.

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