Are we free to make our own choices regarding our body and sexuality?

In the Dolle Mina lecture, an influential and inspiring international speaker elaborates on current feminist issues. This year the keynote speaker for the Dolle Mina lecture is the Egyptian-American feminist Mona Eltahawy. She is a journalist and activist who speaks out for women’s rights and sexual liberation. With her combative and unapologetic attitude, she inspires girls and women worldwide to fight against inequality and oppression.

Did you miss it? You can watch the Dolle Mina lecture here

Are we free to decide what happens to our bodies and how we lead our lives? 50 years ago, the Dutch feminist activist group Dolle Mina fought for freedom of choice and the right of self-determination. They fought for good sexual education, access to abortion, free birth control and against sexual violence. What have we learned since then, and what still needs to change? And, even more important: what can we do about this?

Dolle Mina and the sexual revolution

Dolle Mina’s playful and humorous protests contributed to the sexual revolution in the Netherlands in the 1960s and 1970s. Now, 50 years later, the sexual revolution is still not completed. Slut shaming and victim blaming restrict young women in exploring their sexuality. #MeToo shows that sexual harassment is a social problem that affects almost all women. And the discussion about abortion is still ongoing. How can we reclaim our bodies and our sexualities?

With Mona Eltahawy, Milou Deelen, Munganyende Hélène Christelle and feminist collective S.P.E.A.K., we discuss the current state of the sexual revolution in the Netherlands. Are we free to make our own choices regarding our bodies and sexualities? And what still needs to change before we have that freedom?

More information

The Dolle Mina lecture is an initiative from the City of Amsterdam and organised with Atria, institute for gender equality. The event takes place on June 14th, 17:00-18:30 in OBA Theater, Oosterdokskade 143, Amsterdam. The event is in English and will also be livestreamed. The registration for the Dolle Mina lecture is closed and everyone who has registered has received a confirmation. If you have not received this you can send untill 16:00 an email to pr@atria.nl.

You can watch the Dolle Mina lecture here

About the speakers

Mona Eltahawy

Mona Eltahawy is a journalist, writer, Muslim and feminist. She writes for The Guardian, The New York Times, her own platform Feminist Giant and other media about women’s rights and sexual liberation. During a protest in Cairo in 2011, she was arrested and abused by the Egyptian security police. This experience propelled her to write and speak even more openly about her sexuality. Eltahawy is author of the books Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution (2015) and Seven Necessary Sins for Women (2019).

Milou Deelen

Milou Deelen is a journalist and an activist. In 2017 she went viral with her video about slut shaming and she has been a well-known Dutch advocate of sexual liberation ever since. Her new book, in she explores the current state of sexual equality in the Netherlands, will be published in May 2022.

Munganyende Hélène Christelle

Munganyende Hélène Christelle is an essayist and publisher. She created the crossmedial feminist audiocollective Fufu & Dadels and writes essays in which she reflects on blackness and being female. She composed the essay collection Liberté, Egalité, Beyoncé (2021).

Saida Derrazi from S.P.E.A.K.

Saida Derrazi is human rights activist and co-founder of S.P.E.A.K., the Dutch collective for Muslim women who fight for their right of self-determination. The collective speaks out against racism and islamophobia and fights for freedom of choice, such as the right to decide to wear an hijab (or not).

Moderator: Maartje Laterveer

Maartje Laterveer is a journalist, writer and public speaker. Her main interest is women and feminism, and she enjoys exploring different perspectives on what it means to be female in the 21^st century. In 2019 she interviewed Mona Eltahawy for the Dutch newspaper Volkskrant.

Image: Design: BUROBRAAK, photo Mona Eltahawy: Robert. E. Rutledge