Photo: Daniel Mihailescu/AFP/Getty Images. Retrieved from edition.cnn.com

Excerpt from edition.cnn.com

Thousands of women across Iceland – including the prime minister – went on strike Tuesday as part of a campaign pushing for greater gender equality in the country.

It marked the seventh time that women in Iceland have gone on strike in the name of gender equality, campaign organizers said on their official website. The first strike took place on October 24, 1975.

The strike, known as the “Women’s Day Off” or “Kvennafrí” in Icelandic, was organized to raise awareness about the “systemic” wage discrimination and gender-based violence faced by women in Iceland, according to organizers.

Some schools and libraries in the Scandinavian country did not open their doors on Tuesday, according to Icelandic public service broadcaster RÚV. Only one bank branch opened on the entire island, RÚV reported, warning readers that its own coverage had been reduced due to its female journalists participating in the strike. Medical clinics in the capital area were only treating emergencies during the strike, due to end at midnight local time (8 p.m. ET), according to RÚV.