Women in the Faroe Islands

During the late 19th century, women in the Faroe Islands became wage-earners by participating in jobs such as fish processing and by becoming teachers.

[1] According to The Copenhagen Post, BBC News, and The Arctic Journal in October 2013, many young Faroese women have been leaving the Faroe Islands to study abroad, particularly in countries such as Denmark, Norway, and the United Kingdom.

Many of these women searching for better education settle permanently in Copenhagen, Oslo, and London respectively, without any plan of returning to their native country.

Andrea Árting (1891–1988) was an active figure in the Faroese labour movement, heading the Tórshavn Working Women's Association for almost 40 years.

On the political front, representing the Loysingarflokkurin or Separatist Party, she was one of the first women to stand for the Løgting in 1940, although she was not elected.

Anna Kirstin Thomsen is a Faroese woman living in Tvøroyri in the Faroe Islands. Thomsen won the Faroese Literature Prize in 2008 for cultural achievement . In this picture, Thomsen is holding an old emergency boat lamp used in the old days by local fishermen. Thomsen currently runs the Pub and Café , a pub and a café that also functions as a museum. She also manages the Sail Loft , a cultural centre.