Ingibjörg H. Bjarnason, the principal of Kvennaskólinn (‘The Women’s School’) became the first woman to hold a seat in Alþingi in 1922. “As early as 1882, widows and women of independent means had received the right to vote in municipal elections, and in 1907, this right was extended to all women,” writes Stefan Jonasson, editor of Lögberg-Heimskringla. Alþingi voted to extend women’s voting and candidacy rights to parliamentary elections in 1911, but this was struck down—twice—by the Danish king, until Kristján X relented in 1915. Iceland became an independent state under the Danish crown in 1918, and two years later, all age and income restrictions were lifted, giving all Icelandic women equal voting rights in 1920. The campaign lasted only one day and all participants were a part of the strike for the entire day.
However, by 1975, there https://chicagoreader.com/reader-partners/best-dating-sites-for-real-relationships/ were only three parliamentarians (5% of all parliamentarians), and there had only been nine female parliamentarians in total. After the 1975 Icelandic women’s strike, more women were elected. A look at Iceland’s historic labor systems helps convey the tremendous significance of the herring era. Between 1490 and the late 1800s, poor, landless people in Iceland were subjected to vistarband, a find more at https://thegirlcanwrite.net/hot-icelandic-women/ law that obligated them to find work on farms and essentially live as indentured servants. Landowners were required to provide food and shelter, but only men were paid wages. Workers were not allowed to leave the farm without its owner’s permission. No ad may belittle any gender or go against the country’s fierce mission to achieve gender equality.
- In 1915, women over 40 were granted the right to vote, and in 1920, the country introduced suffrage for all citizens ages 18 and up.
- The country’s first women’s rights organization formed in 1894 and collected signatures on voting rights petitions.
- When an entry is published for the first time, we machine-translate the Open Text fields into all of the other supported languages.
- Ninety percent of Iceland’s female population participated in the strike.
- The strikers had clearly achieved their goal and demonstrated the undeniable importance of women and their work in Iceland.
Both farming and trading were family businesses, and women were often left in charge when their husbands were away or dead. There is also evidence that women could make a living in commerce in the Viking Age. Merchants’ scales https://www.womenshealthmag.com/relationships/a29771600/best-tinder-conversation-starters/ and weights found in female graves in Scandinavia suggest an association between women and trade.
Enter the herring girls, who were referred to as “girls” no matter their age. They, too, came by the thousands from across Iceland, fulfilling a role so crucial that the industry couldn’t have succeeded without them. Iceland passed a law in 2010 requiring company boards to have a minimum of 40% of women or men. In 2021, women occupied about 42% of managerial roles and 40% of parliamentary positions in Iceland. Fortunately, in Iceland, there’s a ministry to complacency on gender equality. The ministry of gender equality, as in Harry Potter, is magic.
Women’s suffrage
Iceland’s largest maritime museum, it occupies five former fishery buildings, including a salting station that also served as a women’s dormitory, a fish meal and oil factory, and a reconstructed boathouse. Overall, the Nordic country has a near perfect score on the gender-equality scale. For eight years, the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report ranked Iceland No. 1 on its list of countries actively closing gaps in gender equality.
Gendered Narratives in Historical Accounts
Vigdís says she would not have become president without the strike which she said was the “first step for women’s emancipation in Iceland”, which “completely paralysed the country and opened the eyes of many men”. In the year following the strike, Iceland set up the Gender Equality Council, and passed the Gender Equality Act, which prohibited gender discrimination in the workplace and in schools. Though the museum offers a comprehensive history of the herring years, it’s the herring girls themselves who are the stars of the show. The museum hosts salting exhibitions on its front dock, where performers—including some former herring girls—demonstrate how freshly caught herring were gutted, salted and placed in barrels. Accordion music, singing, dancing and some lighthearted theatricality accompany the shows, capturing the lively spirit of the herring boom years. After kids grow up with equal time from parents, gender equality lessons don’t stop. Article 23 of the Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women and Men mandates that gender equality must be taught in schools throughout all levels of education.
Ninety percent of Icelandic women participated, whether they had paid work or did the un-paid work of caring for children and home. Though there are plenty of examples of women’s history being uncovered in the U.S., there is a lot we can learn from our international colleagues . This is why groups like the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience are so important. If you are interested in more women’s history collaboration on an international scale, start with the International Federation for Public History and the International Federation for Research in Women’s History. And when it comes to collecting, researching, and sharing queer women’s history in Iceland, the work has just begun.
Looking back at the events of that day, she has reported remembering hearing children in the background of radio broadcasts, as fathers had brought their children with them to work. Iceland is yet to become the first country in the world with a majority women parliament. Currently, women hold 30 of the 63 seats in the Icelandic Parliament, following a recount in the 2021 election. In Iceland women are paid about 18% less than their male counterparts, if working in the same job with the same level of experience; for comparison, the average European wage gap is 16.2%. Excluding ranking, position, and hours worked, the average annual income for women is 28% less than men. At the current rate, women will not experience equal pay until 2068.
They are currently ranked as the 17th best women’s national team in the world by FIFA as of December 2019. At the 2013 UEFA Women’s Championship, they took their first point in a major championship, following a draw against Norway in the opening game. Iceland has national women’s teams for basketball, handball, volleyball, and the women’s national football team which represents Iceland in international women’s football.
TheUnited Nationsannounced that 1975 was going to beInternational Women’s Year. A representative from a women’s group called theRedstockingsput forward the idea of a strike as one of the events in honor of it. The committee decided to call the strike a “day off” since they thought that this term was more pleasant and would be more effective in engaging the masses. As well, some women could have been fired for going on strike but could not be denied a day off. Women’s organizations spread the word about the Day Off throughout the country. The Day Off event organizers got radio stations, television, and newspapers to run stories about gender-based discrimination and lower wages for women. It appears that this process did contribute to policy changes.
People here just love it,” explained Ingunn Ludviksdottir in our interview with CrossFit Sport, she was part of the 2014 fittest team in Europe. The difference, however, is in 2007 the government amended the law arguing that most people who turn to soliciting sex have no other option or were coerced by others. After the shocking corruption and financial collapse in 2009, the government made an effort to include more women in seats of power to reduce corruption. They also prosecuted those responsible for the financial crisis, unlike in the US. Navigate to the search page from the site menu, or use the search bar at the top of any page to conduct a site-wide keyword search. Once your search results are displayed, you can sort them by content type such as cases, methods, or organizations. You can further filter results for cases, methods or organizations using the filters button.