Every national leadership position in Iceland – including president, prime minister, bishop and police chief – is now held by a woman, but there’s still “work to be done”, said President Halla Tómasdóttir.

She spoke as Icelanders went on strike last week to mark the 50th anniversary of the “Kvennafrí” (“women’s day off”), which drew attention to how essential women’s labour was to Icelandic society and how undervalued it was.

What was the strike about?

Before the historic strike, women’s work was “valued less than men’s”, said The i Paper – women earned about 40% less than men. On 24 October 1975, 90% of Iceland’s women stopped work in protest at this inequality and 25,000 gathered in the centre of Reykjavík .

The women demanded equality, equal pay and recognition of their contri

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