Women to hold a one-day strike, taking the prime minister with them

According to a report by the British newspaper The Guardian, the strike, which will be held across Iceland with the participation of tens of thousands of women and people from many different backgrounds, aims to protest gender-based pay inequality and draw attention to gender-based violence.

While at least 25,000 people are expected to attend the event to be held in the city center of the capital Reykjavik as part of the strike, even higher participation is anticipated for 10 separate events to be held nationwide.

Many Icelandic women from various professions, including Prime Minister Jakobsdottir, will participate in the walkout, which is organized by approximately 40 organizations under the slogan "Do you call this equality?".

Speaking to the Icelandic press about the strike, Prime Minister Jakobsdottir stated that the prime minister's office would be closed tomorrow, saying, "First and foremost, I am showing solidarity with Icelandic women with this."

Freyja Steingrimsdottir, Communications Director of the Icelandic Federation of Public Workers and one of the organizers of the strike, stated that Iceland is often spoken of "as if it were a paradise of equality," but that in a country with such a claim, more than 40 percent of women are subjected to gender-based violence or sexual violence, and that this should not be the case.

Steingrimsdottir noted that in Iceland, women still earn 21 percent less than men in some professional groups.

The organizers of the strike report that professions associated with women, such as cleaning and caregiving, are undervalued and subject to low wages.

On the other hand, Iceland has ranked first in the World Economic Forum's gender equality index for 14 consecutive years.

Icelandic women first held a full-day walkout in 1975.

News Source: AA