Over here in the United States, women are still struggling for the right to not have their boss dictate whether they have health insurance coverage for their birth control. In Iceland, instead of fighting like mad to not slide back into a real-life The Handmaid’s Tale-esque dystopia, women just got a big boost in getting fair wages; gender pay inequity is now officially illegal in the country. AlJazeera reports:
The legislation, which came into force on Monday, the first day of 2018, makes Iceland the first country in the world to legalise equal pay between men and women.
Under the new rules, companies and government agencies employing at least 25 people will have to obtain government certification of their equal-pay policies.
Those that fail to prove pay parity will face fines.
People familiar with Iceland’s history in handling gender inequality wouldn’t be surprised. According to the World Economic Forum, Iceland ranks #1 in the world for gender equity—and has for nine years in a row. For comparison, the United States is ranked 49th.
How is this possible? Well, reading AlJazeera’s coverage of the politics behind this historical legislation makes it pretty clear. The number of women in government puts the US to shame.
The new legislation was supported by Iceland's centre-right government, as well as the opposition, in a parliament where nearly 50 percent of all members are women.
"I think that now people are starting to realise that this is a systematic problem that we have to tackle with new methods," said Aradottir Pind.
"Women have been talking about this for decades and I really feel that we have managed to raise awareness, and we have managed to get to the point that people realise that the legislation we have had in place is not working, and we need to do something more," she added.
Meanwhile, only 19 percent of positions in Congress are filled by women.