There is no equality until the playing field is levelled. There is no equality until everyone is dealt the same hand of cards. There is no equality if the starting points that are assigned to people are based on their gender, where a dominant gender has privilege as their birthright. There is absolutely no equality unless or otherwise, everyone is equal in every sense of that word. Partial equality is unfair and unjust. This is the ultimatum that the women and non-binary people in Iceland are standing on.
The ‘kvennafri’ or women’s day off
Iceland is often dubbed as a feminist haven, a paradise in which equality is fulfilled, a utopia in which women are treated as fairly as their male counterparts are. But that is far from the actual situation. While Iceland is undoubtedly a country with a high level of gender equality, it is not equal all the way through. According to the World Economic Forum, Iceland has been able to secure the title of being the “most gender-equal country in the world” for 14 consecutive years. It is declared as the only country in the entire world to have bridged over 90% of its gender gap. Whereas the average for most countries is in the 60s range. But the catch is, there is another 10% left. Gender equality should be available unconditionally, devoid of negotiations and 100%. Therefore the concern that women and non-binary people raise is that there is still a considerable pay gap to be filled. Especially because men get paid 10% more than women do. In the same vein, the organisers of the strike shed light on the fact that despite the world placing Iceland on the pedestal by calling it an example of a gender-equal nation, the country is not living up to its reputation and has an uncountable number of loopholes.
As such then, tens of thousands of women and non-binary individuals, including Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir made it their duty to be a part of the strike that happened on 24 October 2023. This strike which consisted of both paid and unpaid workers, aimed to bring the nation to a stoppage, marking the first full-day women’s strike since 1975. During that historical event, 90% of Icelandic women participated in what was known as ‘kvennafri’, resulting in transformative changes, including the election of the world’s first female president. However, the needs that they had protested for 48 years ago are still unmet which shows that there has been no growth and gender equality has been in a state of inertia. More so than a cry for help, this strike served as a powerful statement to draw attention to the chronic gender pay disparities and the prevalence of gender-based and sexual violence in the country. Because in an equality paradise neither should there be a wage gap of 21% nor should 40% of women be subjected to sexual violence.
The areas that Iceland needs to work on
In Iceland, men and women have nearly (keyword being nearly) equal education achievements, and women’s political participation is fairly satisfactory. Over 40% of ministerial and parliamentary positions are held by women and over the last 50 years, female leaders have held the highest political office for 25 years. Iceland shares the spotlight with Bangladesh as the only two countries that have surpassed men in the duration of holding the highest political office. While all of these are commendable feats that were achieved as a result of the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into fighting tooth and nail for equality, the way that these accomplishments are mentioned hits a raw nerve. Most of the discourse around such statistics makes it sound like they were bestowed upon women as acts of charity and leaves out the part about the hurdles and mountains that women had to scale just to claim ownership of what was rightfully theirs, to begin with. The lack of attitudinal changes is why the world is still light years behind where it actually should be, in terms of gender equality. This is why Icelandic women have brought the issue of the pay gap to everyone’s attention to say that if this is the situation in a country that the world considers to be a ‘gender-equal paradise’, the bar is truly low.
Iceland is famed for its sizable government investment in a highly subsidised childcare system, spending twice the amount that most other countries do. This is an initiative that aims to counter the “motherhood penalty”, which according to research can be held accountable for 80% of the gender pay gap. Regardless of these efforts, Iceland is ranked 14th globally regarding economic participation and opportunities for women. It has also been in regression since 2021 due to depreciating female representation in senior roles and discrepancies in wages. While Iceland ranks 5th globally for wage equality in similar roles, it still faces a gender pay gap of nearly 13% among OECD countries, bringing it down to the 33rd position in terms of women’s income parity. In addition to the offence of unequal pay, Iceland makes life difficult for women because of their high levels of sexual violence. While the strike primarily targeted closing the gender pay gap, the organisers also demanded that action be taken against the gender violence that women are subjected to.
Women in Iceland believe that achieving gender equality is still a work in progress. They understand it as something that has not reached its finish line as of yet. And until women are treated with the same vigour that men are, the fight will continue because the emancipation of women from the shackles of a patriarchal society is of utmost importance.
(Sandunlekha Ekanayake)