Icelandic women urged to strike on Friday to mark 50th anniversary of seminal protest

President, who will join ‘Women’s Day Off’, says Iceland is not free from feminist backlash being seen around world Iceland is the only country to have closed the gender gap by more than 90%, according to the World Economic Forum, and, for the first time in its history, every national leadership position – including president, prime minister, bishop and police chief – is now held by a woman. But as people go on strike on Friday to mark the 50th anniversary of “kvennafrí” (“Women’s Day Off”) strike, the protest that kickstarted a global equality revolution, the Icelandic president warned that her country was not immune to gender-related “red flags” and a global “backlash” against feminism.