Iceland’s Prime Minister, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, has participated in a strike alongside thousands of Icelandic women to protest unequal pay.
This strike, occurring on Tuesday, represents the first full-day women’s strike in Iceland since 1975 when 90% of Icelandic women refused to work.
The 1975 strike led to the passage of an equal pay law and the election of Vigdís Finnbogadóttir as the world’s first female head of state in 1980.
However, organizers of the current strike argue that the core demand for valuing women’s work equally remains unmet 48 years later, especially in fields like healthcare and education.
Iceland is the most gender-equal country globally, according to the World Economic Forum’s recent report, closing the gender gap in healthcare, education, leadership, and STEM professions.
Despite this progress, Icelandic women are still grappling with a 21% wage gap and a high rate of gender-based violence.
The global gender gap in economic participation and opportunity is projected to take 169 years to close, according to the report.