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Women and Women's Rights

Iceland’s Lessons for the #MeToo Era

What can the #MeToo movement learn from Iceland? The history of successful women’s protests show that mass mobilization is key.

<p>Protesters march on Pennsylvania Avenue during the Women&#8217;s March in Washington, DC, United States. January 21, 2017.</p>
Protesters march on Pennsylvania Avenue during the Women’s March in Washington, DC, United States. January 21, 2017. REUTERS/Bryan Woolston

By experts and staff

Published

By

  • Rachel B. Vogelstein
    Douglas Dillon Senior Fellow and Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program
  • Meighan Stone
    Adjunct Senior Fellow for Women and Foreign Policy

On Thursday, thousands gathered at the U.S. Capitol to protest the possible confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, who has been accused of sexual assault, as a member of the Supreme Court. In a sign of how divisive the Kavanaugh nomination has become, demonstrators were greeted not only by police, who arrested around 300 people, but also by signs female staffers posted in their Senate office windows: “We believe survivors.”

The protest against Kavanaugh was the latest upswell in a wave of women’s activism that started with the Women’s March in 2017—the largest single-day mass action in U.S. history, with as many as 5 million marchers participating on every continent—followed quickly by the explosion of the #MeToo campaign against sexual harassment and assault, which engaged millions more. Today, one year after the #MeToo movement went viral online, women in nearly 100 countries are using the hashtag to fight violence, harassment, and discrimination.

What can the #MeToo movement learn from Iceland? The history of successful women’s protests show that mass mobilization is key.