Thousands of women, including Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir, stopped working in Iceland on Tuesday to demand equal pay and protest violence against women, according to movement organizers. “On October 24, all women in Iceland, including immigrants, are encouraged not to work,” they write on their site, for this day called “Kvennafrí” (“Day off for women”). A large demonstration began at 2:00 p.m. in Reykjavik, the capital.
“Throughout the day, women will strike to demonstrate the importance of their contribution to society,” add the organizers, specifying that non-binary people were also called to participate in the movement.
Strikers on Tuesday hope men will take over the unpaid work that often falls to women. “We expect husbands, fathers, brothers and uncles to assume responsibilities related to the family and home, for example: preparing breakfast and tupperware for lunch, remembering the birthdays of loved ones, buying a gift for the mother-in-law, arranging a dentist appointment. for the child, etc.,” they list.
“Always on guard”
This day has been organized six times since 1975 in Iceland, but this is only the second time that the strike will be held throughout the day, Steinunn Rögnvaldsdóttir, a member of the organizing committee, explains to AFP. In 1975, 90% of women participated and “at that time it was radical,” she said, and this year several thousand women are expected to participate in this country of almost 400,000 inhabitants.
The Icelandic Prime Minister, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, is also participating in this event, her cabinet confirmed to AFP: “She will not carry out her official duties (…) and the cabinet meeting scheduled for today was postponed until tomorrow. Iceland has been for 14 years the most egalitarian country in the world according to the World Economic Forum (WEF), which takes into account criteria such as salaries, educational level and the health system. In the country, the average salary gap between men and women was 10.2 % in 2021, according to the national statistics agency.
“We always have to be on guard when it comes to our rights,” Lína Petra Thórarinsdóttir, 45, head of tourism at Business Iceland, a promotional agency in the country, told AFP.
Source: BFM TV
