Women’s Political Power and Participation
Information about the status of women’s political power and participation in the West Nordic region.
Denmark
Denmark has been a democracy since 1849, but it wasn’t until 1915 that women received the right to vote and run for office. Women make up 45,3 % of the current government, but women still haven’t reached full equality when it comes to political participation and representation.
Here below are a few resources about women’s political power and participation in Denmark.
Ligestilling i kommunerne. Ministry of the Environment and Gender Equality. In Danish.
Status report about equality and political representation at the municipal level in Denmark.
Fremgang og stilstand i toppen af dansk politik. Tinne Steffensen and Lumi Zuleta. Institute for Human Rights. 2022. In Danish.
An report from the Institute for Human Rights about representation in relation to gender and ethnicity among candidates for the general election in 2022 and governments 1988 to 2022.
Women in parliament. Folketinget. In Danish.
A historical review of women’s political participation published by the Danish Parliament.
The Faroe Islands
In 2024, women’s representation is 44% in the Government, 30% in the Parliament, and 36% in the municipalities. Focused efforts are being made to increase the number of women in Faroese politics. Jona Henriksen and Karin Kjølbro were the first women elected to Parliament, and in 1993-94, Marita Petersen was the Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands.
Here below are a few resources about women’s political power and participation in the Faroe Islands.
“Different conditions. A description of the lack of equal rights on the Faroe Islands”. The Social Democratic Party in the Danish Parliament, 2020. In Faroese.
A description of the lack of equal rights on the Faroe Islands with emphasis on political participation, management and democracy, committes and councils.
“Gallup poll for Demokratia”. Demokratia. 2022. In Faroese.
Presentation of statistics regarding the role of gender in political participation and voting on the Faroe Islands.
Demokratia. In Faroese.
Website of Demokratia, an organisation that arranges cross-political events to increase the role of women in political decision-making.
Greenland
Here below are a few resources about women’s political power and participation in Greenland.
Intervention to CEDAW. Sarah Olsvig. 2021. In English.
Intervention by the Human Rights Council of Greenland to CEDAW on “Effective participation, consultation and consent of indigenous women and girls in political and public life”, from 2021.
Major challenges await Greenland’s new minister for gender equality. NIKK, 2018. In English.
Interview with Inge Olsvig Brandt, head of secretariat at Greenland’s gender equality council.
Greenland. Global Media Monitoring Project, 2021. In English.
Greenland country report on gender in the news media, from 2021.
Iceland
Iceland was the first country in the world to democratically elect a woman as president, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir in 1980, but it wasn’t until 2009 that the first woman became prime minister, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir. In 2024, women make up 47.6% of Alþingi, the Icelandic parliament, and 50.4% of local governments.
Here below are a few resources about women’s political power and participation in Iceland.
Doing and Becoming: Women‘s Movements and Personhood in Iceland 1870-1990. Sigríður Dúna Kristmundsdóttir. University of Iceland, 1997. In English.
A comprehensive analysis of the ideas and activities of Icelandic women’s movement, from their emergence in the last decades of the 19th century to the present day.
From Feminism to Class Politics: The Rise and Decline of Women‘s Politics in Reykjavik. Auður Styrkársdóttir. Umeå University, Sweden, 1998. In English.
A dissertation which seeks to examine the relationship between women‘s suffrage, party politics and patriarchal power in the period between 1908-1926 in Iceland. During these years, women in Iceland ran separate lists at local and national level.
Women’s Suffrage in Iceland. The Women’s History Archives. In English.
A short article about how women in Iceland won the right to vote in 1915, on the website of the Women’s History Archives.
Power and Influence. Statistics Iceland. In English.
Website maintained by Statistics Iceland with key figures about women and men in politics and the judicial system in Iceland in 2018.
Women in Parliament. Alþingi. In English.
A website maintained by Alþingi, the Icelandic parliament, on women who have served in parliament.