Women across Iceland joined their prime minister going strike on Tuesday. The action was part of a campaign greater gender equality in the country. Prime minister Katrin Jakobsdottir told reporters why she took part the "Women's Day Off". She said: "As you know, we have not yet reached our goals full gender equality and we are still tackling the gender-based wage gap, which is unacceptable 2023." A spokeswoman the day off said: "On 24 October, all women in Iceland were encouraged to stop work, both paid and unpaid. the whole day, women (and non-binary people) went on strike, to demonstrate the importance their contribution society."
Yesterday was the seventh time that women Iceland have gone strike. It was the first such action nearly 50 years. The last strike was in 1975, when 90 per cent women did not go to work and did not do housework. The following year, Iceland passed an equal pay law. In 1980, Iceland became the first country Europe to elect a woman as head state. According to the World Economic Forum, Iceland has had the smallest gender gap any country for 14 years a row. Despite this, Ms Jakobsdottir, said there is still a long way to go. She wants women's pay to be equal to men's pay. She also wants a reduction gender-based violence. Ms Jakobsdottir said this was a "priority" her government to tackle.
