SDG Blog 5

 Flag of Iceland image and meaning Icelandic flag - country flags

In my previous blogs we have seen a trend of countries who are behind the rest of the world with poor gender equality. Today we will be talking about the county that leads the rest of the world when it comes to gender equality, Iceland. "Iceland was the frontrunner according to the Global Gap Index of the World Economic Forum in 2017" (Iceland.is, p. 1). People in Iceland take pride in ranking at the top and inspire to continue to work towards complete equality and power of men and women. 

What are Icelandic Women Like? | Guide to Iceland

How Was Iceland able to close their gender gap?

Traditionally in Iceland men would be away from their family at sea which by default left women in the position of power. Women had to take on roles that men traditionally had like hunting, building and farming. Women also managed finances of the household, ran farms and could be wealthy landowners in widowhood. The notion of the 'strong woman" was created and lingered throughout the ages, "women were priestesses, oracles, poets, and rune masters, merchants, and medicine doctors" (We Forum, p, 6). Iceland values women and has always had laws that protected women from unwanted attention, and violence. Striking a woman would "largely mean death for the aggressor" (Guide To Iceland, p. 13). 

This is huge for a country to enforce because we have seen a trend countries having huge number of violence again women. In a country where it is taboo for a man to hurt a woman we can obviously see that women are valued and hearted with resect. 

This History of valuing and protecting women has not changed in Iceland as they were the first country to elect a female president. Vigdís Finnbogadóttir was the first women to be president in Iceland and became the longest serving female head of state in history. Iceland is also the first country to make it illegal to pay men more than women for doing the same job. The "current gender gap in Iceland is 14% to 18%... the government plans to "completely eradicate it by 2022" (Time, p. 2). This is a huge step for a country to completely make it illegal to pay women less and actually enforce the law.  Women in Iceland make up 66% of graduates from university, hold almost half of the country's parliamentary seats and 80% of women makeup part of the the work force. 

The rest of the world can learn a lot from Iceland and the progressions their low gender gap reflects on their society. We see what a positive impact it has made on their society and the well being of their country and people in general. When women and men both pull their weight in society it makes everyone stronger and the country reaps the benefits in many ways. 


References

A Complete Guide to Gender Equality in Iceland: Guide to... (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2020, from https://guidetoiceland.is/history-culture/gender-equality-in-iceland

Country Flags. (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2020, from https://www.google.com/url?sa=i

John, T. (2018, January 04). Iceland Legalizes Equal Pay for Men and Women. Retrieved October 20, 2020, from https://time.com/5087354/iceland-makes-equal-pay-the-law/

Magnea Marinósdóttir. (n.d.). This is why Iceland ranks first for gender equality. Retrieved October 20, 2020, from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/11/why-iceland-ranks-first-gender-equality/

What are Icelandic Women Like? (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2020, from https://guidetoiceland.is/connect-with-locals/nanna/what-are-icelandic-women-like


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