In Iceland thousands of women have mobilized this Tuesday in a historic feminist strike in the Nordic country. They have come to the streets under the slogan “What do you call equality?” and since 1975 it has been the most important and multitudinous protest of all time. The protest has been massively monitored and Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdóttir has joined the Paros.

The majority unions and 40 feminist associations in the country have called for a strike and were convened by both women and non-binary people. Since the first hour of the morning it has had a significant impact on schools, hospitals, shops and municipal services. Lack of staff has sometimes led to a reduction in hours and sometimes to a direct closure of shops. Many women have stayed at home as a protest without doing any 24-hour work, even those working in hospitals warned that they would only attend to emergency cases.

Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdóttir has also joined the protest and, in addition to delaying the Governing Council for the following day, asked other government ministers and legislators not to join the work. As he pointed out on Tuesday in various media outlets, he would join the strike “in solidarity with women in Iceland” and explained that they have not yet achieved the “goals of full gender equality”. “There is still a wage gap that in 2023 is unacceptable,” he added.

Wages 20% lower

According to the statistics of the country itself, Icelandic women earn 20% less than men, despite being today one of the most progressive nations in the world. As if that were not enough, and according to a study by the University of Iceland, 40% of women experience gender- and sex-based violence in their daily lives.