Tens of thousands of women in Iceland are due to take part in the country’s first day-long strike in almost 50 years to raise awareness of gender-based violence and the gender pay gap.
Katrin Jakobsdottir, Iceland’s prime minister, will participate in the protest which will involve women and non-binary people stopping paid and unpaid labour on Tuesday.
Teachers, nurses and fishing industry workers have said they will take part in the women’s strike which is the first day-long protest since 1975 when women also downed tools and stopped work.
The original protest, dubbed “Women’s Day Off” or “Kvennafrí” in Icelandic language, brought the nation to a standstill due to women refusing to work, do childcare, or cook.
Some 90 per cent of Icelandic women are estimated to have stopped work for the day - with schools shut down and flights cancelled due to a dearth of staff.
While children were brought to work by their fathers due to a lack of childcare. The protest triggered far-reaching change in the country - with Iceland subsequently electing the first woman to be an elected president in the world and rolling out its first Gender Equality Act.
BSRB, the country’s biggest federation of public worker unions, as well as 31 associations, are taking part in the strike, according to local publication Mbl.is.
“First and foremost, I am showing solidarity with Icelandic women with this,” the country’s PM told the news outlet.
The protest’s organisers want the strike to raise awareness of sexual violence and domestic abuse as well as the undervaluing of sectors where women are over-represented. Campaigners hope more people will take part in Tuesday’s protest than those who took part in the 1975 strike.
The World Economic Forum recently declared Iceland as the world’s most gender-equal nation for the 14th year in a row.
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