International Women's Day
Essay by Minister Timmermans on International Women's Day.
"I must have been a feminist from the day I was born. As my father died when I was about four and I only had sisters, I grew up in an all-female family. So as a young girl, it upset me to discover that my feisty and self-reliant mother was not allowed to vote in the municipal elections, whereas every brainless man was."
Betsy Bakker-Nort was a feminist, like her sisters. She lived and worked for a time in Scandinavia, translated works of literature, became an active member of the Dutch Association for Women's Suffrage in 1895 and embarked on a law degree at Groningen University when she was 34 years old. In the summer of 1914, exactly a century ago, she obtained her doctorate with a comparison of the legal position of married women in Germany, Switzerland, France, England and the Netherlands. Her thesis not only analysed the legal issues but also made a powerful plea for abolishing the legal incapacity of married women.
In 1922 Betsy Bakker-Nort became the first female member of the Liberal Democratic League to sit in the House of Representatives. As the deputy and successor of Aletta Jacobs, who was prevented by illness from participating in the elections, Bakker-Nort appeared second on the list of electoral candidates. One of the slogans under her photograph on the Liberal Democratic League election posters was 'FOR A FAIR DEAL IN MATRIMONIAL LAW' in big letters. Bakker-Nort served as a member of parliament for 18 years and worked tirelessly to improve the rights of women.
During the Second World War, Bakker-Nort was deported to Camp Westerbork and then to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. She survived the ordeal but died a year after the liberation, aged 72. It was not until 10 years after her death that the legal incapacity of married women was abolished in the Netherlands. The present-day Labour Party (PvdA) and People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) - both of which have roots in the Liberal Democratic League - played a key part in changing the law on this point.
Bakker-Nort belonged to the first wave of feminism, which considered equal rights as a necessary first step towards the full emancipation of women. At a global level, this struggle is still far from over. On International Women's Day, we should reflect seriously on the legacy of Betsy Bakker-Nort and others like her. There is still much work to be done, in our own country and abroad. That is why improving women's rights worldwide is a core element of the Netherlands' policy on human rights.