Iceland works through #metoo
Nation’s positive gender equality record stained by high level of reported rapes
REYKJAVIK, Iceland — For nine years in a row, the World Economic Forum has ranked Iceland as having the world’s smallest gender-equality gap, and for about as long gender studies professor Gyda Margret Petursdottir has been asked how the Nordic island nation became such a paradise for women. Her reply: “It isn’t.” Iceland has a female prime minister and some of the world’s strongest laws on workplace equality and equal pay.
It also has one of Europe’s highest per-capita levels of reported rapes, according to statistics agency Eurostat, although legal definitions differ from country to country, complicating comparisons.
A 2010 University of Iceland study found that 30 percent of Icelandic women aged 18 to 80 reported having been physically attacked by a man at least once, including 13 percent who reported suffering rape or attempted rape.
Icelanders are experiencing a stark realization: Equal representation does not, by default, eliminate gender-based violence.
Petursdottir said the “myth” that Iceland’s record on gender equality makes it a safe haven for women is a distraction from the steps needed to fight systematic abuse.
“Men need to find ways to change their ideas about masculinity,” Petursdottir said. “That’s the biggest challenge now.”
The sexual misconduct allegations against powerful men in Hollywood, politics and beyond, and the #metoo campaign launched by women speaking out against abuse, have reached this volcanic island below the Arctic Circle.
Hundreds of women in Icelandic politics, entertainment and academia recently signed a pledge against sexual harassment and urged male colleagues to change their behavior.
More than 40 percent of lawmakers in Iceland’s parliament, the Althingi, are women. Last month leftwing leader Katrin Jakobsdottir became prime minister in a coalition government — Iceland’s second female leader in the last decade.
Her appointment is another point on the Global Gender Gap index for a country regarded as a champion of equality.
The index measures life expectancy, educational opportunities, political representation, equal pay and other factors — but not gender-based violence.
Feminists argue that Iceland’s star ranking masks continuing violence, harassment and everyday sexism — and that fixing the problem will need a transformation in the way men — and women — think and behave.
In a series of 137 anonymous accounts from women in politics recently published in local media, one female legislator illustrated everyday sexism with a story of a male opponent who complimented her looks right before she took the podium in an attempt to throw her off-topic.
Andres Ingi Jonsson, a lawmaker for the Left Green Movement, said the example shows how parliament, even more than other workplaces, risks becoming a harmful environment for women, since disarming opponents is a key part of politics.
“The basic tools we use can be influenced by sexually degrading language, and we need to remove that from the toolbox,” said Jonsson, who is among a group of male parliamentarians seeking to get men to become actively engaged in promoting gender equality.