INTERVIEW/ Iceland President Tomasdottir discusses gender equality

Asahi Shimbun

16-05-2025

Iceland President Halla Tomasdottir at the presidential residence in Reykjavik on May 12 (Gakushi Fujiwara)
REYKJAVIK—How can Iceland, a Nordic island nation, continue to be 'the most gender-equal country in the world'?
Iceland President Halla Tomasdottir was a young girl when the women in her country went on strike for a day, and five years later voters elected their first female president.
In 2024, Icelanders elected Tomasdottir, 56, as the second female president in Iceland's history.
At a symposium hosted by The Asahi Shimbun on May 31, Tomasdottir will discuss gender equality with young Japanese and Diet members.
The event, titled, 'How to create gender equality with the President of Iceland,' will explore the insights Japan can glean from Iceland's challenges and path forward, which has increased the percentage of female members in parliament from 10 percent to 46 percent in 40 years.
Recently, The Asahi Shimbun interviewed Tomasdottir at the presidential residence in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, asking about Iceland's half-century of progress in gender equality and her suggestions for Japan.
* * *
The turning point in Iceland for gender equality was Oct. 24, 1975.
The women of Iceland went on strike for the day.
Ninety percent of the women in the country took time off from work and household chores to attend protests. Businesses and families were paralyzed nationwide, highlighting the importance of women.
Tomasdottir was 7 at the time.
'I thought, this is strange, I've never seen this,' she recalled.
The day happened to be her mother's birthday, and her father and uncles were preparing for a party.
She asked one of her aunts, 'Why are the men doing the cleaning up and serving and you're just having fun like I've never seen before?'
She said she will never forget her aunt's answer: 'Because we want to show that we matter.'
She realized then that if women did not function, nothing would function.
Five years after the national strike, the nation elected its first female president, Vigdis Finnbogadottir. She also became the world's first democratically elected female president.
Tomasdottir said Finnbogadottir 'was a great role model.'
'You can't be what you can't see,' she said.
She has a photograph of herself alongside Finnbogadottir, who is now 95, in her official residence.
Tomasdottir graduated from a university and received an M.B.A in the United States, and built her career at major U.S. companies.
She ran for president of Iceland for the first time in 2016 but finished a close second.
Six months later, she visited her daughter's school and, as an experiment, she asked about 80 students—boys and girls—to draw a picture of an entrepreneur, a teacher and a president.
With the exception of just two, the students drew a male entrepreneur, a female teacher and a male president—even though the country had been led by Finnbogadottir and Tomasdottir had just run for the position recently.
'Gender norms are very powerful,' she said, and 'These underlying norms and assumptions (are) impacting both women and men, both boys and girls.'
Tomasdottir has spent most of her life breaking down 'barriers,' believing that women taking a leadership role is essential for a prosperous future.
In June 2024, she won the presidential election on her second attempt.
Iceland has ranked first 15 consecutive times in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index.
Meanwhile, Japan ranked 118th out of 146 countries in the 2024 index.
Asked if there are any ideas to close the gender gap that Japan can take from Iceland's history, Tomasdottir said one example is the all-female political party that was created in 1983, three years after Finnbogadottir became the president.
Tomasdottir said that the party 'really put pressure on the other political parties' to think about the importance of female legislators.
Another example might be voluntary quotas and mandatory quotas that Iceland has implemented to increase gender balance, she said.
In Iceland, gender quotas are required by law for boards of directors of midsize and larger companies.
The third and most powerful idea in her opinion would be 'to actually create a concerted initiative to make it happen,' she said.
Tomasdottir said although she has not visited Japan, 'I know from history that when Japan decides to do something well, it does well.'
If Japan takes gender equality seriously, 'then I think the future is very bright for Japan, with all of its design and nature, it's a beautiful country with a very strong economy,' she said.
'But growth and innovation are not going to come from doing more of the same,' Tomasdottir said.
* * *
The symposium, 'How to create gender equality with the President of Iceland,' will be held on May 31 starting at 10 a.m. at Hirose Memorial Hall at Tsuda University's Sendagaya Campus in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward.
It will be co-hosted by The Asahi Shimbun, Tsuda University and the Embassy of Iceland in Tokyo.
The symposium will be limited to 100 people and open to Asahi Shimbun subscribers. It is free of charge.
Applications can be made here:
https://t.asahi.com/wow4
The deadline for applications is May 20.