The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association (IWRA) has joined the European Women‘s Lobby (EWL) and will serve as a national coordination in Iceland. EWL was founded in 1990 and has its Secretariat is located in Brussels. It is the largest European umbrella network of women’s associations in Europe, with member organisations in 30 countries and 19...Read More

You are invited to “Her Voice” a panel discussion with women of multicultural ethnicity in Iceland. Hosted in celebration of the International Women’s Day in the Gym & Tonic room at KexHostel, Thursday March 7th, at 5 p.m. Women of multicultural ethnicity are a growing population in Iceland for many reasons. They play a significant...Read More

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association has been a member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW) since 1907. The February 2019 issue of the IAW newsletter has just been published. The newsletter gives information the upcoming IAW International Meeting in Lahore, Pakistan, a report on the European Women’s Lobby’s Manifesto for a Feminist Europe, and...Read More

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association has been a member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW) since 1907. The December 2018 issue of the IAW newsletter has just been published. The newsletter prints news from the board meeting of IAW, held this October in Berlin. It also gives information about Sweden’s new feminist foreign policy...Read More

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association invites you to a photographic exhibition about the women and men who fought for Icelandic independence at the turn of the 20th century. The exhibition shines a light on the important part women played in the Icelandic independence movement. Iceland’s sovereignty would not have been achieved had it not been...Read More

Don’t Change Women, Change the World Declaration of Women in Iceland on the Women’s Day Off, October 24, 2018 Women’s stories of harassment, violence and discrimination in the workplace that have been shared through social media under the hashtag #MeToo highlight the fact that income inequality is not the only injustice women face in the...Read More

Icelandic women‘s organizations and labor unions are calling for a women‘s strike this coming Wednesday, October 24th 2018, to protest gender income inequality and violence and harassment in the workplace. They are planning to leave work at 14:55 – the minute they stop being paid for their work due to the pay inequality accounting in...Read More

What will YOUR sign say on October 24th when we walk out at 2:55 p.m. and meet at Arnarhóll to protest income inequality and sexual harassment and violence in the workplace. Come and paint protest signs in good company at Efling, Guðrúnartún 1, 101 Reykjavík, Sunday October 21th between 2 pm and 4 pm. You...Read More

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association has been a member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW) since 1907. The October 2018 issue of the IAW newsletter has just been published. The newsletter prints the obituary of Alice Yotopoulos Marangopoulos, the tenth president of IAW (1989-1996), who died at the age of 101 in Greece. The...Read More

What will YOUR sign say on October 24th when we walk out at 2:55 p.m. and meet at Arnarhóll to protest income inequality and sexual harassment and violence in the workplace. Come and paint protest signs in good company at BSRB, Grettisgata 89, 101 Reykjavík, Sunday October 14th between 2 pm and 4 pm. You...Read More

Women are encouraged to leave work at 2:55 p.m. on Wednesday October 24th, 2018 to protest income inequality and sexual harassment and violence in the workplace. Our demand is Don’t Change Women, Change the World! Demonstrations will take place at Arnarhóll, Reykjavík, at 3:30 pm the same day, called by the women’s movement and the...Read More

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association has been a member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW) since 1907. The June 2018 issue of the IAW newsletter has just been published. The newsletter gives information about the upcoming IAW board meeting, in Berlin this coming October. It also presents a report from EWL – the European...Read More

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association has been a member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW) since 1907. The June 2018 issue of the IAW newsletter has just been published. The newsletter presents the new Secretary General of IAW, Mrs. Olufunmilayo Arinola Oluyede of Nigeria, and the new Assistant Secretary General Ms. Tunica Miranda Ruzario...Read More

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association has been a member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW) since 1907. The April 2018 issue of the IAW newsletter has just been published. The newsletter prints reports from CSW62 and information about the upcoming IAW board meeting in Berlin in October 2018. There is also a report about...Read More

Representatives from women’s organizations in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden discuss the current challenges and recent successes of the work for gender equality in the Nordic countries. What approaches have worked and which have not? How can our experiences help the global gender equality movement? Let’s exchange our knowledge and experience and change the...Read More

Welcome to a side event at the CSW62 hosted by the Icelandic Ministry of Welfare, the Parliament of Iceland (Althingi), the Icelandic National Committee of UNWomen, and the Icelandic Women’s Rights Association. Monday, 12 March 2018, 13:15 – 14:30, Conference room 12, GA building, UNHQ. During this event, we will discuss the challenges and the...Read More

Welcome to a lecture on human trafficking at Kynjaþing, March 3rd at 2 p.m. in Tækniskólinn on Skólavörðuholt, Room 403. Logan Smith is a human trafficking survivor and will in her presentation talk about her experiense as a survivor. She will also address how we can spot a victim of human trafficking in our every...Read More

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association has been a member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW) since 1907. The February 2018 issue of the IAW newsletter has just been published. The newsletter gives information about the upcoming CSW in New York, presents reports from member organizations about the #MeToo movement and links to an article...Read More

All the Icelandic labor federations and the Icelandic Women’s Rights Association invite the #metoo women to a meeting to discuss the next steps of the movement. The meeting will take place on February 10 in Hotel Natura (in Þingsalur 2) between 10:00 and 14:00. A light lunch is included. After a brief introduction, the participants...Read More

On June 1st 2017, Alþingi, the Icelandic Parliament, passed a law mandating that all companies and employers with 25 or more employees prove that they pay men and women equal wages. This change was accomplished through an amendment to Article 19 of the Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women and Men. The...Read More

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association has been a member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW) since 1907. The December 2017 issue of the IAW newsletter has just been published. The newsletter presents new organizations which joined IAW at the 2017 IAW Congress and includes an article by Christina Knight about the #MeToo campaign. Read...Read More

Fríða Rós Valdimarsdóttir, the chair of the Icelandic Women’s Rights Association, addressed the annual global summit of Women Political Leaders, held in Reykjavík from 28-30 November 2017. Fríða gave the following remarks: We are here to talk about gender equality in Iceland. About the current situation of gender equality. We want start by showing you...Read More

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association has been a member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW) since 1907. The November 2017 issue of the IAW newsletter has just been published. The newsletter gives a report about the 27th Congress of IAW, held in Cyprus on October 20th to 28th 2017. Read the IAW newsletter for...Read More

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association has been a member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW) since 1907. IAW held their annual congress in Cyprus in August 2017, and reports for this congress how now been published online. Click here to read the reports for IAW Congress 2017.Read More

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...Read More

The Icelandic government collapsed last night because of an alleged cover-up of a letter written by the father of the current prime minister to help a friend, convicted of child sexual abuse, clear his record. The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association has written the following statement in response: Last night was a turning point in Icelandic...Read More

Do you want to run for Parliament or just find out more about how politics in Iceland work? Do you want to meet other immigrant women who are interested in politics? Join us at training course in politics hosted by the Icelandic Women’s Rights Association. Free registration here: https://kvenrettindafelag.is/politik This course will introduce you to...Read More

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association has been a member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW) since 1907. The August 2017 issue of the IAW newsletter has just been published. The newsletter gives information to members who wish to participate in the next IAW Congress in Cyprus, from IAW’s international representatives in New York, Geneva,...Read More

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association has been a member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW) since 1907. The June 2017 issue of the IAW newsletter has just been published. The newsletter gives information about the upcoming IAW congress in Cyprus, news about the work of IAW at CSW61 and the 70th World Health Assembly...Read More

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association has been a member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW) since 1907. The April 2017 issue of the IAW newsletter has just been published. The newsletter focuses on CSW61. IAW held a parallel event at the CSW and had an important meeting with the new UN Secretary General IAW...Read More

A video about the protests in Iceland against the gender pay gap has been published. The video is directed by Lea Ævarsdóttir and the music is by Mammút. On October 24, 2016, women in Iceland left work at 2:38 to protest income inequality. This was not the first time women in Iceland have gone on...Read More

Welcome to a side event at CSW61 organized by the Government of Iceland, in cooperation with the Action Group on Equal Pay and The Icelandic Women‘s Rights Association. 14 March, 13:15–14:30 PM Conference Room 2 – UN Headquarters Will Iceland manage to close the gender gap? A number of special measures in the labour market...Read More

This post was written in March 2017 and is outdated following changes to Icelandic legislation. Read an updated guide to equal pay in Iceland and the Equal Pay Standard here! —   On March 8, 2017, Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson announced in a meeting in New York that Iceland planned to mandate equal wages for...Read More

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association and Stockholm Feminist Film Festival has conducted an evaluation of gender (in)equality in films screened in Icelandic cinemas and on RÚV – the Icelandic Broadcasting Service in 2016. The evaluation shows that of all the films screened in Icelandic cinemas in 2016 (187 films) : 93% were directed by men...Read More

Welcome to a panel discussion on the gender gap on the big screen, Friday February 24th, at 5 p.m. in Bíó Paradís. The reason for the panel is the shocking gender gap of the directors of the films screened in cinemas as shown in a new study that STIFF conducted in collaboration with the Icelandic...Read More

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association has been a member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW) since 1907. The February 2017 issue of the IAW newsletter discusses the Women’s March on Washington and sister marches around the world. It gives news about the upcoming CSW61 which takes place in NY on March 15-25, and provides...Read More

Calling on people of all genders and nationalities to join our sisters in solidarity with the historic Women’s March on Washington. Saturday, January 21 at 2 p.m. Route: Arnarhóll to Austurvöllur. Speakers: Xárene Eskandar, Brynhildur Heiðar- og Ómarsdóttir, Hilmar Bjarni Hilmarsson, Guðrún Inga Ingólfsdóttir, Paul Fontaine, Randi W. Stebbins. THIS MARCH IS ALL INCLUSIVE. MISSION:...Read More

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association has been a member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW) since 1907. The December 2016 issue of the IAW newsletter has just been published. The newsletter gives information to members who wish to participate in the next IAW Congress in Zimbabwe and who wish to participate at CSW61 in...Read More

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association has opened a web portal with links to articles, reports, videos and other material on women’s rights in Iceland, written in the English language. The list covers several aspects of the Icelandic society: gender equality, the equal pay standard, the labor market, parental leave, prostitution and human trafficking, gender-based violence,...Read More

Income Equality Now! Let‘s Walk Out on Monday, October 24th, at 2:38 p.m.! Women are encouraged to leave their work at 2:38 p.m. on Monday, October 24th, and join us in demanding income equality on Austurvöllur, in front of Alþingi. The demonstrations will begin at 3:15 p.m. The average wages of women in Iceland are...Read More

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association has been a member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW) since 1907. The October 2016 issue of the IAW newsletter has just been published. The newsletter gives information to members who wish to participate in the next IAW Congress in Zimbabwe, news about CEDAW and the Istanbul convention, and...Read More

200 people demonstrated outside Althingi, the Icelandic parliament, on October 3rd 2016, to protest the proposed ban on abortion in Poland. Women all over the world demonstrated against this proposed ban, with tens of thousands of people participating in demonstrations in Polish cities. Brynhildur Heiðar- og Ómarsdóttir, the managing director of the Icelandic Women’s Rights...Read More

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association has been a member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW) since 1907. The August 2016 issue of the IAW newsletter has just been published. The newsletter gives information to members who wish to participate in the next IAW Congress in Zimbabwe, news about BREXIT and about the campaign for...Read More

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association has been a member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW) since 1907. The June issue of the IAW newsletter has just been published. Our hostess in Zimbabwe presents herself in this Newsletter and there is a new deadline for registration for Congress: July 1. IAW has joined an international...Read More

Amnesty International now endorses the decriminalization of prostitution and the sex industry. It is therefore the official policy of Amnesty that the buying and selling of sex should be decriminalized, as well as the intermediation of prostitution, i.e. pimping and brothels. Amnesty International claims that this proposal protects the human rights of those involved in...Read More

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association has been a member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW) since 1907. The April issue of the IAW newsletter has just been published. The newsletter gives information to members who wish to participate in the next IAW Congress in Zimbabwe. We have reports from CSW 60, where Agreed Conclusions...Read More

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Assocation has, in cooperation with the Icelandic Human Rights Office, Stígamót, the Women’s Legal Aid, and Amnesty in Iceland, submitted a shadow report to the UN in preparation for the 26th UPR session in October 2016. The report lists the concerns of the reporting group with the Icelandic government’s adherence to...Read More

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, the CEDAW committee, just published its concluding observations on the Icelandic state’s gender equality work. Iceland is a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The state signed the CEDAW convention in Copenhagen in 1980, and Althingi, the Icelandic...Read More

The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association has been a member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW) since 1907. The February issue of the IAW newsletter has just been published. The newsletter focuses primarily on IAW at CSW 60 and on other IAW activities. Read the IAW newsletter for February 2016 here.Read More

Brynhildur Heiðar- og Ómarsdóttir, the executive manager of the Icelandic Women’s Rights Assocation, had a private meeting with members of the UN CEDAW committee today, answering any questions they might have reading the shadow report the organization submitted earlier this year in cooperation with the Icelandic Human Rights Centre. Margrét Steinarsdóttir, the executive manager of...Read More