Iceland's PM joins biggest women's strike since 1975 for equal pay and an end to violence

Tens of thousands of Icelandic women, including the country's prime minister, have gone on strike to push for an end to unequal pay and gender-based violence.

Organisers called on women and nonbinary people to refuse both paid and unpaid work, including household chores, during the one-day strike.

Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir said she would join women in her Cabinet and those across the volcanic island nation in staying home as part of the “women's day off”.

“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.”

Iceland has been ranked as the world's most gender equal country for 14 years in a row by the World Economic Forum, and is the only country to have closed more than 90% of the gender gap.

However, figures from Statistics Iceland show the unadjusted gender pay gap was 9.1% in 2022, with women working in the financial and insurance sectors facing a gap of over 25%.

Industries with female-dominated workforces, such as schools and the healthcare system, said they would be heavily affected by the walkout.

Iceland's national broadcaster RUV said it was reducing television and radio broadcasts for the day.

Tuesday's strike is the biggest of its kind since October 24, 1975, when 90% of women refused to work, clean or look after children to protest workplace discrimination.

The following year, Iceland passed a law guaranteeing equal rights irrespective of gender.

The original strike inspired similar protests in other countries including Poland, where women stayed home from work and school in 2016 to show their rejection of a proposed abortion ban.

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