Icelandic women walked out of work at 2:38 p.m. on a Monday for an important reason

LONDON -- For most of us, Oct. 24 is just any other day. But, for the women of Iceland, Oct. 24 represents the most important day in the nation's fight for gender equality.

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On Monday afternoon at precisely 2:38 p.m., women across Iceland downed tools and walked out of work for an event called "Women's Day Off".

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Though the event's name might suggest otherwise, the event is far from a day off. On Monday, women across the country went on strike to protest the persistent gender pay gap, which currently stands at 18 percent.

The event's start time -- 2:38 p.m. -- coincides with the exact moment that women on average begin working for free each day due to this wage gap.

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On Monday afternoon, striking women took to Austurvöllur square in Reykjavík to march in protest of the pay gap.

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Women's Day Off first took place over 40 years ago on Oct. 24, 1975, when 90 percent of Icelandic women went on strike. In 1975, women in Iceland were paid less than 60 percent of men's earnings, and many women weren't able to work due to housework and childcare duties.

On that day in 1975, the nation's women did not go to their paid jobs, and ceased to do housework and childcare.

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The day -- which was backed by women's rights organisations -- aimed to highlight the indispensable contribution of women's work for Iceland's economy and society.

On that day, newspapers were not printed because the typesetters -- all of whom were female -- were on strike. Theatres were closed because female actors were observing the day, schools closed because teachers were striking, flights were cancelled because flight attendants were absent and male bank executives assumed the role of tellers for the day.

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25,000 women -- one-fifth of the country's population at the time -- took to the streets of Reykjavík that day to protest the pay disparity.

Forty years later, Iceland is top of the World Economic Forum's gender gap index, and was recently named the best place in the world for working women.For now, Icelandic women will not give up their tireless quest for equal pay.

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