Two Deputy PMs in last Dutch gov’t wanted headscarves declared as hindering emancipation
Two deputy Prime Ministers from the Schoof I Cabinet tried to have headscarves declared as an obstacle to women’s emancipation. Civil servants managed to stop this, Investico reported based on over 600 emails and several text messages received through the Open Government Act.
Then-Deputy Prime Ministers Fleur Agema (PVV) and Mona Keijzer (BBB) wanted a parliamentary letter on emancipation from November 2024 to include headscarves as an obstacle to women’s emancipation.
At Agema and Keijzer’s insistence, the draft letter included the sentence: “People who no longer dare to be visible out of fear of the reactions of Islamic men.” Civil servants at the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science opposed that and several other of the Ministers’ suggestions.
One civil servant pointed out that “once again, only Muslims are consistently singled out and projected as a threat to ‘our’ women and gays.” The sentence did not make it into the final letter. They also called various other suggestions “untrue,” “polarizing,” and “stigmatizing.”
According to Investico, that was one of several attempts to use the emancipation policy for the right-wing government’s anti-immigration agenda. The communications showed that the civil servants had expected a request from the Council of Ministers to “name that many problems concerning women/LGBTQ+ are caused by Muslims.”
Agema was Minister of Public Health, and Keijzer the Minister of Housing. According to Investico, these right-wing Ministers repeatedly and in detail interfered with the policy of State Secretary Mariëlle Paul (VVD), who had emancipation in her portfolio.
