Icelandic Protesters Gathering in Reykjavík

Iceland is consistently ranked as the most gender equal country in the world, and yet many Icelandic women are going on strike to protest the ever-present gender pay gap. On October 24th, over 25,000 women and non-binary people – in Iceland’s capital city alone – rallied to secure fair pay and to put an end to gender-based violence.

As of 2021, the gender pay gap sat at 10.2%, which the Icelandic Prime Minister, Katrin Jakobsdottir deemed, “unacceptable in 2023.”

In protest, women have been asked to withhold all labor for one full day. Men have been asked not to participate, but to take on extra responsibilities in the home to show their support. Iceland has not seen a strike of this scale since 1975, when 90% of women went on strike, which catalyzed Iceland’s Equality Act in 1976.

Unfortunately, the Equality Act was not enough, but with sufficient support, Iceland’s political landscape can be changed once more. Some of the protest organizers made their views clear: “Today, Iceland is the most gender-equal country in the world, but the fight to 100% continues.”