Iceland review - 2014, Síða 22

successes and setbacks
Recent examples of inequality, abuse or violence against women,
such as the kidnapping of 200 school girls in nigeria, gang rapes
in india, lashings in Sudan and women being sold into slavery
by islamic State (iS) fighters have made global headlines and
helped to keep women’s rights issues in the spotlight.
Whether or not these incidents indicate a widespread deterio-
ration in the situation for women in these countries is an issue
that ingibjörg Sólrún has given much thought. She’s careful
in her response to point out that there have been both gains
and setbacks. “it wasn’t so long ago that domestic violence, for
example, was considered a private matter in all countries of the
world. today, the issue is more in the open, there is more discus-
sion about it, and women are less scared about stepping forward
to put forth a charge or discuss the event openly.” another posi-
tive development is women’s participation in recent uprisings
due to social media, she notes. “Women have been taking part
everywhere, in egypt, tunisia, Libya, Ukraine... and it’s possible
through social media to reach them very fast. a fun example is
when [in July] a turkish minister said that women should not
laugh in public. in a case like this, we get the reaction right away
through social media.” Women in turkey, and later around the
world, posted pictures on social media of themselves laughing
in public.
on the other hand, she worries about conservative forces.
“they are getting more wind in their sails and what is remark-
able about the islamists and the extremist nationalists in
Western countries, what unifies them is that the first thing they
do is attack the rights of women, especially sexual and reproduc-
tive rights.”
iceland no utopia
iceland is often ranked at the top of indexes measuring gender
equality and has been rated the country with the world’s smallest
gender gap by the World economic Forum (WeF) for the five
years leading up to 2013 (this year’s results have yet to be pub-
lished). the rating suggests that iceland is the country where
women enjoy the most equal access to education and healthcare
and are the most likely to be able to participate fully in the
country’s political and economic life.
despite receiving top marks, there is still a lot of work to be
done, ingibjörg Sólrún argues. “iceland is doing very well and
we have of course made a lot of progress—there is no question
about that. However, this doesn’t mean we can become overly
confident and think that everything here is perfect. it is of
course not. there’s still a gap between the salaries of men and
women and single mothers are still one of the groups that are
likely to rank among the poorest in iceland,” she explains.
ingibjörg Sólrún says one problem is that the icelandic
culture is what she describes as primarily masculine. “there’s
a great culture of clashes in iceland, a culture which is mascu-
lives a privileged life. “it was difficult to live there because i
had hardly any social life, but the people, the country and the
culture were amazing. i also learnt a lot. one thing that i have
taken away from my experience in afghanistan is how fortunate
people are to be born in a country like iceland, so very, very,
fortunate. But this is only something you fully realize when
you experience life in these countries. it really is a coincidence
where you are born.”
upholding woMen’s rights
the transition from politics to the Un was an easy one,
ingibjörg Sólrún says. “i think my experience in politics pre-
pared me very well. in the work i was doing in afghanistan, my
experience as city mayor proved to be most useful because being
mayor is both about working in policy and ensuring that things
get implemented—it’s about being practical. as mayor, you’re
always putting out fires. in afghanistan i always had to have an
eye on where the problems were and where i needed to step in,
whereas the work i’m doing now in istanbul uses my experience
as foreign minister because i have to work with governments in
many countries. my new role involves more policymaking but
less action.”
the Un is sometimes criticized for getting bogged down in
bureaucracy, but ingibjörg Sólrún stresses that a lot has been
achieved in the areas of awareness and policymaking on wom-
en’s rights, particularly from 1990 to 2000, and more recently
on the economic issues facing women. However, she doesn’t
shy away from acknowledging that there’s room for improve-
ment. “the Un has passed a lot of resolutions, but they are still
very much words on paper and in many countries there is still
a huge gap between policy and implementation. When it comes
to the rights of women, we are a long way from achieving the
millennium development goals, for example. it’s time to think
about the next steps.”
eqUALitY
behind the
blue Mosque
in istanbul,
turkey.