Icelandic Women's Rights Association

Kvenréttindafélag Íslands

Who Are We?

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association (IWRA) was founded in 1907 to fight for women’s suffrage and political equality between women and men.

History of IWRA

Our Mission

IWRA works on women’s rights and the equal status of all genders in all areas of society. The association works on the basis of human rights and works against all kinds of discrimination.

Read our mission statement

Resources on Gender Equality in Iceland

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About Us

IWRA’s work is diverse. In recent years, the organization has focused on increasing women‘s representation in politics and the judicial system, eradicating gender income inequality and online violence, and making gender studies a mandatory subject in secondary schools.

IWRA has a representative on the Gender Equality Council of Iceland and is a founding member of the Icelandic Human Rights Centre.

IWRA actively cooperates with partner organizations in the Nordic and Baltic states, and has been a member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW) since 1907 and the European Women’s Lobby (EWL) since 2019.

Latest News

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Equal Pay in Iceland

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Reports

Monitoring Gender Equality

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association regularly publishes reports on gender equality in Iceland.

Two recent reports available in English is a shadow report on Iceland’s implementation of CEDAW − the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and a study about online violence against women in Iceland, Denmark and Norway.

Shadow Report on Iceland's Implementation of CEDAW

Report

Iceland has gone further than most other countries to achieve gender equality and eliminate discrimination against women, but we have a long way to go to achieve full equality.

In preparation for Iceland’s CEDAW review in 2016, the Icelandic Women’s Rights Association and Icelandic Human Rights Office have submitted a shadow report to the UN CEDAW Committee, on Iceland’s implementation of the Convention.

Read the report here.

Online Violence Against Women in the Nordic Countries

Report

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association has published the report Online Violence Against Women in the Nordic Countries by Ásta Jóhannsdóttir, Mari Helenedatter Aarbakke and Randi Theil Nielsen. The report was written in cooperation with Kvinderådet in Denmark and KUN in Norway.

Each country conducted a study of survivors’ experience of online violence and their search for protection from and justice for that violence, as well as interviewing police and legal actors who have worked with cases of online violence.