Tens of thousands of women in Icelandincluding Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir, will refuse to work on Tuesday. ‘kvennafri’, or women’s holiday, has been declared to protest the gender pay gap and gender-based violence.
Sectors where women make up the majority of workers, such as health care and education, will be particularly affected, the BBC notes.
The planned walkout marks the first all-day strike by women since 1975.
“I will not work this day, as I expect all women will [στο υπουργικό συμβούλιο]Iceland’s Prime Minister Jakobsdóttir told the website mbl.is.
Ms Jakobsdóttir said her government is looking at how female-dominated professions are valued compared to traditionally male-dominated sectors.
According to the Icelandic Teachers’ Association, women make up the majority of teachers at every level of the education system, including 94% of kindergarten teachers.
About 80% of the employees at the National University Hospital of Iceland, the country’s largest, are women.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has ranked Iceland as the best country in the world for gender equality for 14 consecutive years. However, the country is not quite on par, with the WEF giving it an overall score of 91.2%.
Source: News Beast
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