More than 50,000 women in Reykjavik ranging from actresses to politicians to fish factory workers to teachers marked "Women's Day Off" and marched through the streets demanding equality yesterday.
The protest was timed to start at 2.08pm. Activists calculated that this amounted to 64.1 per cent of the working day. Icelandic women complain that the average female wage is 64.1 per cent of the male income, even though a large majority of women are holding down jobs as well as taking the largest share of childcare.
The Times of London reports that all the main embassies ground to a halt, as did the banks, government departments, most shops and kindergartens.
All this took place on the thirtieth anniversary of a strike by Icelandic women which became a milestone for the international feminist movement.
In October 1975, 25,000 Icelandic women attracted worldwide attention when they left their homes and workplaces to go on strike. They gathered for two hours in the centre of Reykjavik in what was at the time probably the country's largest political rally ever. That protest sent shockwaves through the whole of the Nordic community and paved the way for the election five years later of Vigdis Finnbogadottir, the first democratically elected female President
“I was a theatre director in 1975,” the former President recalled. “Actresses and ticket clerks asked me for the time off to protest. I told them I would be there, too.”
The rally site yesterday, with a capacity for about 7,000, was not nearly big enough for the number of women who turned out, but loudspeakers were placed in outlying areas so at least some could listen in.
A sprinkling of men could also be seen, usually with their families in tow.
According to women who had experienced both women's strikes, the proportion of men in 2005 was noticeably higher than in 1975. One participant, Maria Kristmanns, is quoted in IPS: "I think that 30 years ago men were somewhat threatened by the day of action, but luckily it is clear that the mood has changed."
As with the 1975 strike, the objective was to show the value of women in the workforce for the Icelandic economy.
Edda Jonsdottir, project manager for the event, told IPS that 83% of Icelandic women work, “….equivalent to 49.5 percent of the workforce." She said, "The percentage of working women in Iceland is the highest in the OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development] countries. But women are still mostly in low-paid jobs, such as care work and teaching.”
In addition, activists point out family responsibilities and unequal division of housework -- of which women do 80 percent -- impair women's potential and opportunities in the labor market. If women marry or have more children, their real income goes down, while just the opposite is the case for men.
Activists listed the following as just some of the reasons for “Women’s Day Off.”
• women’s salary in Iceland is only 64,15% of men’s
• women get 72% of men’s salary for working the same number of hours
• having children has a negative effect on women’s salary, but a positive effect on men’s
• many women live in fear and insecurity in their own homes
• one out of three women becomes victim of gender related violence in her lifetime
• women do not get credit due for their education
• women in business have less access to finance
• responsibility for upbringing of children and domestic work is still largely on women’s shoulders
• jobs involving caretaking are among the lowest paying jobs in the job market
• women’s voice is still not loud enough in the media
• women’s bodies are treated as merchandise
• a woman has never been prime minister, bank manager or bishop
• women have never occupied half the seats in parliament
• women are not treated as equal to men
• this has to be changed
Sources: IPS, Iceland Review, Kvennafri (Iceland), Times of London
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