It is important that Iceland maintains this approach in its effort to continue to lead as the most gender-neutral society. Going into the future, countries should implement comprehensive reforms to erase all forms of discrimination against men and women in the quest for gender equality. The next year, Iceland’s parliament passed a law guaranteeing equal rights to women and men. Although this 1976 law did little to change the disparity in wages and employment for women, it was a large political step towards true equality. The strikers had clearly achieved their goal and demonstrated the undeniable importance of women and their work in Iceland. The strike also paved the way for the election of Iceland’s, and the world’s, first democratically elected female president five years later.
In 2018, Iceland made unequal pay for equal work illegal; companies and government agencies with over 25 employees face heavy fines. In 1968, the Arctic Ocean herring fishery collapsed as a direct result of overfishing. The once-plentiful Atlantic herring was on the verge of extinction, and Iceland’s economy took a sharp tumble. Fish processing plants were abandoned, boats sat idle in harbors and docks no longer hosted lively gatherings. But even as many herring girls returned to domestic duties, their impact on Icelandic politics and society continued to resonate.
- She became minister of social affairs in 1987, a position she held until 1994.
- Herring girls’ organizing efforts took place around the same time that women won suffrage in Iceland.
- It identifies differences between indirect and direct gender discrimination, acknowledges gaps in wages, and recognizes that gender-based violence is detrimental to society.
- Nevertheless, women still earn about 14% less than men, though these statistics do not take into account the hours worked, over-time, and choices of employment.
Iceland has had a woman as either president or prime minister for 20 of the last 36 years. In the 2016 parliamentary election covering 63 seats, 30 women were elected, increasing the number of females in the Alþingi to over 47%. Compared to the United States which sits at twenty percent, Iceland was said to have the “most equal parliament” in the world when women won 48% of the seats in 2016. After the law was brought in, more than 90% of fathers used their paternal leave. Research found that this put men and women on a more equal footing in the workplace, but did not seem to affect the pay gap. In 2012, there were plans to gradually increase the leave to be five months for each parent, plus two months of transferable leave, by 2016.
What is so interesting to me is that the Icelandic parliament discussed women’s suffrage more than once in the 19th century and most parliamentarians supported it. However, all bills that contained women’s suffrage were vetoed by Danish authorities. Those bills also proposed changes in the relationship between countries as well. I was surprised at how progressive parliament was back about this topic.
Women’s suffrage
The rest of the fields are either numbers, dates, or fixed options—we call these ‘Fixed Data’ fields. While viewing a case, method, or organization entry, click the red pen icon in the bottom right-hand corner to add to or amend the entry’s content. “I’m really thankful for our culture in Iceland for how open it is, how women are leading https://supda.lara.gob.ve/home/10375/ the way, and I very much want to be part of continuing that,” Davidsdottir said.
How Iceland’s Herring Girls Helped Bring Equality to the Island Nation
Following this achievement, on June 15, 1915, women older than 40 gained the right to vote in national elections. Before this, men could vote from 25 years of age and women only at 40 years old. In 1920, Iceland removed “the age barrier to voting eligibility for women” completely.
The strike was orchestrated to raise awareness of the important contributions of women in Icelandic society, and additionally, it spurred people to action . The women’s absence from the workplace and from the home for the day was a very effective method to bring awareness https://thegirlcanwrite.net/hot-icelandic-women/ to all that women did . The following year, a law banning wage discrimination based upon gender was passed . Five years after the strike, Iceland’s first female president, Vigdis Finnbogadottir, was elected; in 1983, the Women’s Alliance, a new political party, won seats in the parliamentary election .
The event was unprecedented because of the huge backing it had among women at the time, credited in part to the fact that the organizers chose to call it “a day off” instead of a strike. It is believed that as many as 90% of all Icelandic women participated in the strike, by either not showing up to work or not performing any housework. In the capital of Reykjavik, an estimated 25,000 women gathered to protest. Since then, Icelandic women have gone on strike an additional five times, most recently in 2018. The year 1975 had been dubbed the International Women’s Year by the United Nations. During the World Conference the same year, the World Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Objectives of the International Women’s Yearwas adopted. At that time in Iceland, about 50% of women in the working age group worked outside the home and were also believed to do most of the housework.
Then, in 1907, the Icelandic Women’s Rights Association began as the first formal women’s organization to focus on political gender equality and “equal access to education” and the workplace. In 1908, Iceland elected four females to serve on the city council in Reykjavik. As of 2018, 88% of working-age women were employed, 65% of students attending university were female, and 41% of members of parliament were women. Nevertheless, women still https://roguewaterlab.org/overcoming-barriers-to-venezuelan-womens-inclusion-and-participation-in-colombia-center-for-global-development-ideas-to-action/ earn about 14% less than men, though these statistics do not take into account the hours worked, over-time, and choices of employment. Iceland has the world’s highest proportion of women in the labour market, https://meinekuche.com/disney-series-women-in-taipei-criticised-for-portraying-southern-taiwanese-women-as-slow-and-other-stereotypes-south-china-morning-post/ significant child care allocations for working women. It has gender neutral parental leave, with a quota for each parent, and a transferable part.
Iceland election: polling day arrives with Pirate party looking for gains
Women had been all but absent from pre-crisis banking boards; after the crisis, they were appointed to the new boards, and two-thirds of the bank managers appointed after nationalization were female. Women were also more successful in running for political office, with the proportion of women in parliament rising to a record 43%. In 1987 Icelandic fathers were given the right to share some of the mother’s six month family entitlement.
There were no shifts or pre-scheduled hours.” As vessels approached, local boys ran or biked from house to house, knocking on windows to wake the women up. For women who weren’t indentured, life still revolved around domestic chores and was largely rural, as sheep-rearing was the largest industry on the island. “These women were used to being home alone all year round, cleaning, cooking and caring for their families,” says Elefsen. Within a few years, Icelanders had not only mastered the same high-yield fishing techniques used by the Norwegians but also perfected their own.