Iceland: Lessons From The World’s Leader in Gender Equality

Disrupting Peace

What can we learn about building and sustaining a women’s movement from arguably the world’s leaders: Icelandic feminists?

To kick off the season, we’re focusing on Iceland, the country ranked number one for gender equality for 15 years in a row. Together, we explore what makes Iceland unique, how younger generations are pushing the feminist agenda forward, and why limiting freedom around parental leave has increased equality in this volcanic, Nordic country.

Silja Bára Ómarsdóttir is a Professor of International Affairs at the University of Iceland. Her research includes Icelandic and feminist foreign policy, national security, and reproductive rights. Find out more about Silja’s work at: https://english.hi.is/staff/sbo

Tatjana Latinović has lived in Iceland since 1994, when she relocated there from Croatia. She is a Vice President of Intellectual Property at Ossur, a medical device company. But most relevant to this conversation, she’s a human rights activist, focusing on feminist and immigrant issues in Iceland, and is the current President of the Icelandic Women's Rights Association. Find out more about Tatiana’s work at: https://kvenrettindafelag.is

Disrupting Peace is a production of The World Peace Foundation. The show is produced by Bridget Conley and Emily Shaw. Engineering by Jacob Winik and Aja Simpson. Marketing and Social media by Emily Ruhm. Show artwork by Simon Fung.

Special thanks to Jeremy Helton, my colleagues, Lisa Avery, B. Arneson, and Alex de Waal, and the team from the Tufts Digital Design Studio, including Kimberly Lynn Forero-Arnias, and Miles Donovan.

Find out more about the World Peace Foundation at worldpeacefoundation.org. Follow us on Bluesky at worldpeacefdtn.bsky.social, and on Instagram at @worldpeacefdtn.