Reykjavík Grapevine - Oct 2021, Page 27

Lifestyle 27The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 10— 2021
Raisin! Her
Voice
Hi!hli!htin! the stru!!le of women of forei!n
ori!in in the Icelandic healthcare system
Words: Desirai Thompson Photo: Art Bicnick
Personal health is something many
people erroneously put off for a
number of reasons—be they emo-
tional, practical or, in some cases,
financial. For women of foreign
origin living in Iceland, these rea-
sons are complex and multifaceted.
Enter the Her Voice 2021 Confer-
ence, which set out to raise this
long-overdue discourse.
Organisation
Chanel Björk Sturludóttir and Elín-
borg Kolbeinsdóttir are the found-
ers of Her Voice (Hennar Rödd), a
non-profit organization focused
on centering the voices of foreign
women in Iceland. Since its found-
ing in 2018, the pair have joined
Chanel’s personal experience as
a woman of mixed heritage with
Elínborg’s academic background in
human rights and democratisation
as the basis of their work.
"It’s common knowledge that
people have all sorts of different
backgrounds, and race is not neces-
sarily connected to national identi-
ty," Chanel shares in our interview.
Íslenska mannflóran, a radio show
she produced for RÚV about mul-
ticulturalism in Iceland—with a
name meant to represent the diver-
sity of people—"became a catalyst
for a lot of other projects, including
this one."
“Especially after the Black Lives
Matter movement began last year,
people really want to learn and
understand what prejudice looks
like in Icelandic society,” Chanel
explains. “The population is be-
coming so much more diverse, so
this is something a lot of people are
asking for.”
Human rights, health
and Her Voice
Her Voice 2021 took place at Bor-
garleikhúsi! on October 2nd. Af-
ter First Lady Eliza Reid delivered
the opening remarks, women of
diverse backgrounds shared the
stage to offer insight into how
the Icelandic healthcare system
works—or doesn’t work—for wom-
en of foreign origin.
"I felt it necessary to have a hu-
man rights perspective,” Elínborg
said. “I took a course in interna-
tional women’s health and human
rights, which helped inspire the
theme for our conference this
year. Of course, the Covid situation
made the issue even more timely.”
Unique obstacles in accessing
healthcare exist for women of for-
eign origin living in this country.
“One of the major struggles these
women face is due to the language
barrier and the interpretations
services they receive,” Elínborg ex-
plained. “Some women will go to
the doctor with a family friend and
the doctor will speak to the fam-
ily member but not straight to the
patient. So of course it can feel as if
the doctor isn’t listening to them.”
This can cause added uncertainty
during times which may already be
frightening for patients.
“They’re treating you,” Shantaye
Brown, author and deputy member
on the board of W.O.M.E.N. shared
in a panel on this topic, “You should
know what’s going on. You should
have that peace of mind. Nobody
else.”
Forward movement
Participants of Her Voice 2021 dem-
onstrated the urgent need for im-
proved and diversified language
services as well as widespread cul-
tural sensitivity training across
Icelandic healthcare services. At
the same time, the call for women
who are impacted by these issues
to be brought into meaningful po-
sitions where they’re able to exact
change was omnipresent.
“We need to empower people of
diverse backgrounds to decision-
making positions,” said Nichole
Leigh Mosty, the US-born director
of the Multicultural Center. “We
need to see people of foreign origin
in high seats on electoral lists in
local politics. We need to see them
pushed up in government agen-
cies. […] We need to have space to
be agents of change.”
“There was no tragedy that
happened to me,” Jade Alejandra,
founder of The Sila II Act shared
regarding an experience in Icelan-
dic healthcare as a person of multi-
cultural heritage. “The tragedy was
that it didn’t need to happen. We
live in such a privileged country.”
Support the mission of Her Voice by
becoming a member for the 2021-
2022 operating year at https://hen-
narrodd.is/membership.
Sharing experiences of the Icelandic healthcare system
Elínborg Kolbeinsdóttir and Chanel Björk Sturludóttir
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