The Gender Pay Gap and Violence - Two Sides of the Same Coin

The year 2023 was a year of conflict and empowerment in Iceland like in many other countries of the world with a reawakened feminist wave. In Iceland over 100 thousand women, non-binary individuals and others took to the streets on October 24, 2023 in a “Women´s Strike” for full gender equality in Iceland.

The two main demands were the elimination of gender-based violence and to close the gender pay gap but also many more. These two areas are among the main challenges standing in the way for reaching full gender equality in Iceland and elsewhere in the world. This webinar, co-hosted by the Embassy of Iceland in Ottawa and the Embassy of Canada in Reykjavík, brings together several experts to share their insights for engaging and mobilizing citizens towards greater gender equality.

Agenda:

11:30-11:35 Welcome Remarks

• Ambassador Jeannette Menzies, Embassy of Canada in Reykjavík

11:35-11:45: Opening Remarks

• Sonja Ýr Þorbergsdóttir, Chairwoman of BSRB and instigator of the Women‘s Strike 2023

11:45-12:25: Panel Discussion

• Senator Marilou McPhedran, Senate of Canada
• Þorbjörg Sigridur Gunnlaugsdóttir, Member of Parliament, Viðreisn (Liberal Reform Party)
• Alice Olivia Clarke, Owner/Head designer Tíra Radiant and Reflective (Tíra ljómandi fylgihlutir) and deputy in W.O.M.E.N (Women of Multicultural Ethnicity Network in Iceland)

• Sonja Ýr Þorbergsdóttir, Chairwoman of BSRB and instigator of the Women‘s Strike 2023

Moderator: Edda Jökulsdóttir, Special Envoy for Gender Equality, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Iceland

12:25 - 12:30: Closing Remarks

• Ambassador Hlynur Guðjónsson, Embassy of Iceland in Ottawa