The year 1975 was proclaimed by the UN the International Women’s Year, and
the 1976-1985 decade was the UN Decade for women’s rights. This decision came
at a time when economic and wage inequalities between women and men had reached
alarming proportions.
In this context, Iceland, known as one of the most feminist countries in the
world, made history with a unique and brave movement that proved to be a real
social earthquake that create awareness of the need to rethink the role of
women in society. Iceland has stood out since the beginnings of feminism as
one
of the first countries to grant women the right to vote. This was in
1915. However, in 1975 only 5% of parliamentary people were women.
On
October 24, 1975, almost all women in Iceland decided to
stay at home, refusing to go to work and participate in household chores or
raising children. Free Women’s Day – Kvennafrídagurinn – since 1975, when 90%
of Icelanders women protested by not showing up to work – at home or at work.
They initially considered declaring the day a strike, but thought the
wording would be too harsh. It was the 70s, when women’s rights were still
fragile. So they proposed that instead of a strike, they should declare that
day a day off. In the context of the UN declaring that year to be International
Women’s Year, an Icelandic organization called “Red Stockings”
suggested that all women protest to demand an equal share in the economy. The
movement involved women from all social and professional backgrounds, eager to
change something concrete in how they were treated.
What were Icelander women protesting for? These were times of huge
wage
inequality for women. The payment
gap reached a gap
of 60%. For the same work, women were paid two-thirds less! Not to mention the
unpaid and unrecognized work from home!
Shops have closed, also fish markets and butchers, representative of
Iceland. Fathers had to stay at home, take care of the children or take them to
work. The country’s economy was blocked for a day, which created awareness of
the importance of women in the labor market and domestic work. More than 20,000
women gathered in the central square of the Icelandic capital Reykyavik to
demonstrate and celebrate.
The World’s First Female President
Among the protesters was
Vigdis Finnbogadottir, a divorced single mother
with an adopted child, who in 1980 would be elected the world’s first female
president. She served four terms as president, from 1980 to 1996.
The aftermath of this Women’s Day off, which went down in history as Long
Friday, was beyond expectations. In 1976, the government proposed laws for
gender pay equality and other rights for working women. For President Vigdis
Finnbogadottir’s second term, she outranked three male challengers, and in the
following two terms, she had no challengers. Currently, the former president is
a goodwill ambassador for UNESCO.
Photo: kvenrettindafelag.is
