Main content
Icelandic women's strike
In 1975, 90% of Iceland’s women took part in a nationwide protest over inequality and forced normal life to an abrupt halt.
In October 1975, 90% of women in Iceland took part in a nationwide protest over inequality.
Factories and banks were forced to close and men were left holding the children as 25,000 women took to the streets.
In 2015, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, later Iceland's first female president, told Kirstie Brewer about the impact of that day.
(Photo: Women take to the streets. Credit: The Icelandic Women's History Archives)
Last on
Wed 21 Feb 202403:50GMT
BBC World Service except East and Southern Africa, East Asia, South Asia & West and Central Africa
Broadcasts
- Tue 20 Feb 202408:50GMTBBC World Service
- Tue 20 Feb 202412:50GMTBBC World Service
- Tue 20 Feb 202418:50GMTBBC World Service except East and Southern Africa, News Internet & West and Central Africa
- Tue 20 Feb 202423:50GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Wed 21 Feb 202403:50GMTBBC World Service except East and Southern Africa, East Asia, South Asia & West and Central Africa
Podcast
![]()
Witness History
The story of our times, told by the people who were there
