Iceland PM Katrin Jakobsdottir to strike for equal pay, end to gender-based violence which is ‘unacceptable in 2023’
- Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir said she would stay home as part of the ‘women’s day off,’ and expected other women in her Cabinet would do the same
- Tuesday’s walkout is being billed as the biggest since Iceland’s first such event in 1975, when 90 per cent of women refused to work, clean or look after kids
Iceland’s prime minister and women across the volcanic island nation went on strike on Tuesday to push for an end to unequal pay and gender-based violence.
Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir said she would stay home as part of the “women’s day off,” and expected other women in her Cabinet would do the same.
“We have not yet reached our goals of full gender equality and we are still tackling the gender-based wage gap, which is unacceptable in 2023,” she told news website mbl.is. “We are still tackling gender-based violence, which has been a priority for my government to tackle.”
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.
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
But in some industries and professions, women earn at least 20 per cent less than Icelandic men, according to Statistics Iceland.
