Women in Iceland went on strike on Tuesday. The strike was for greater gender equality in the country. Prime minister Katrin Jakobsdottir also took part in the strike. She told reporters about the "Women's Day Off". She said: "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." All women in Iceland were encouraged to stop both paid and unpaid work. For the whole day, women went on strike to show how important they are to society."
The strike was the seventh in Iceland's history. It was the first in nearly 50 years. The last strike was in 1975. Then, 90 per cent of women did not go to work or do housework. The following year, Iceland passed an equal pay law. In 1980, Iceland became the first country in Europe to have a woman as head of state. Iceland has had the smallest gender gap of any country for 14 years. Despite this, Ms Jakobsdottir, said there is still a long way to go. She wants to lower gender-based violence. She said this was a "priority" for her government.
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Sources- https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/23/europe/iceland-women-strike-scli-intl/index.html
- https://www.icelandreview.com/news/healthcare-and-education-services-especially-impacted-by-womens-strike/
- https://time.com/6327860/iceland-jakobsdottir-womens-strike/
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