PhD candidate Agnes van Steen researched the history of the Leiden women’s rights movement (1860-1990) and found that the university produced many feminists.

On 8 March, International Women’s Day, equal opportunities for women worldwide, empowerment, and gender equality take centre stage. This day has been celebrated in the Netherlands since 1912, usually centring around a specific theme. This year’s theme: solidarity, the power for change.

A cover over your drink in the pub, deodorant as pepper spray or headphones to avoid hearing catcalling: many women use everyday objects to feel safer in public spaces. Student Anne van der Linden made an online exhibition about this.

Debate, Leiden Asia Academy

The Netherlands is known globally for being a champion of equality. But is it really? On 8 March, International Women's Day, three Leiden experts reflect on this year's national theme: #NietMijnRecht (#NotMyRight)

International Women's Day 2025 - Seminar

Title research: A global framework to regulate non-state actors working with children.

Diana Davila Gordillo is an Assistant Professor of Comparative Politics at the Institute of Political Science.

It often takes longer for women with heart problems to get the right diagnosis. In her Annie Romein-Verschoor Lecture, Professor Hester den Ruijter will talk about how hormones influence the heart and the importance of medical research that focuses specifically on women.

Sheila Varadan is an Assistant Professor of Children’s Rights and Global Health in a joint appointment with the Department of Health and Child Law and the African Studies Centre Leiden (ASCL). Sheila is also part of the Leiden University Network for Health in Africa (LUNHA), an interdisciplinary research…

Master

Master

On 8 March, International Women’s Day, equal opportunities for women worldwide, empowerment, and gender equality take centre stage. For years, the role of women in the past has been nearly invisible. Four archaeologists reflect on this inequality of focus, from hunter-gatherers in the palaeolithic to…

Rick Lawson has a chair in European Protection of Human Rights since 2001; he is part of the Europa Instituut of Leiden Law School. He was appointed, as of 1 September 2025, as the Chairperson of the College voor de Rechten van de Mens, the National Human Rights Institute of the Netherlands. As of this…

Vasiliki Kosta is Associate Professor of European Law at Leiden University. Her research is characterised by an interest in EU Fundamental Rights Law and more broadly in ‘horizontal’ issues, i.e. institutional and constitutional questions spanning different core policy areas of EU Law. She currenlty…

Luísa Pinto e Netto is an assistant professor at Leiden University specialized in fundamental rights, with a particular focus on social rights. Following her career as a state attorney in Brazil and a PhD on the development of fundamental rights, she is building a research agenda in the Netherlands…

On 25 November, the global 16-day campaign 'Orange the World' against violence against women and girls started. Leiden University will also be paying attention to this campaign. On Friday 9 December, Renate van der Zee and Marieke Liem will give a lecture at the Campus The Hague (Spanish Steps, Wijnhaven)…

On 8 March it’s International Women’s Day, and FGGA reflects on the experiences, perspectives and visibility of women. We spoke to four women from our faculty about what they are proud of, their personal journeys and social change. Their honest stories highlight just how diverse womanhood can be.

As of 1 May 2019, McGonagle holds the chair in Media Law & Information Society. The chair is financed by the A.W. Hins Fund, administered by the Leiden University Fund. Tarlach specializes in a range of issues relating to media law and the information society: freedom of expression; the interface between…

‘It was not always accepted, but I just wanted to be a researcher. Now, I am as happy as can be.’ It is one of the quotes from the International Women’s Day presentation for Biology students. Seven women, working as researchers and teachers at the CML, IBL, and Naturalis, shared their experiences with…

On Friday 9 December, Renate van der Zee and professor Marieke Liem held a lecture on 'Visible and invisible violence against women' at the Campus The Hague.

It was not until 1878 that the first female students enrolled at Leiden University, but the discussion on whether women were suited to study was by no means over. 8 March is International Women's Day. BBC correspondente Kim Ghattas will deliver a lecture on 6 March on the struggle by Arabic women for…

Over a thousand women ended up in a State workhouse between 1886 and 1934. This was a place for vagrants, beggars and drunkards: people who were said to be too lazy to work. Who were these women who were sent there? PhD candidate Marian Weevers found out.

Explore the captivating world of women's football in Morocco through Trouw's insightful report, examining the intersection of Islam, popularity, money, and role models, as emphasized by cultural anthropologist Jasmijn Rana.

Who assembled the collections of museums? The answer to this question seems to point to men as collectors. Apart from for rare exceptions, female collectors hardly seem to exist. Yet there were indeed women collectors. For the project Museums, Collections and Society, researcher Holly O'Farrell will…

Every year, Leiden University hosts the Annie Romein-Verschoor Lecture to mark International Women’s Day. This year, historian Nadia Bouras will speak about academic freedom, class and being a woman in academia. And that is just as relevant to men, says lecturer and organiser Looi van Kessel.

Lucy Ataro Opoka is since 1st September 2021, connected to Meijers Research Institute and Graduate School as a PhD Research Candidate.

When we think of ADHD, we often think of highly creative, hyperactive boys. But does this mean that girls don’t have ADHD at all?

Natashe Lemos Dekker has been awarded the Distinguished Women Scientists Fund 2021. This travel grant for female postdocs allows her to spend a period as a visiting fellow at the UCLA Department of Anthropology in the United States.

AI ultrasounds: LUC alumna empowers women in rural Africa

Mirjam Sombroek van Doorm (1968) has been appointed professor of Law and Health at the Department of Juvenile Law & Health Law of the Institute of Private Law since 1 October 2022. The broad remit of Law and Health reflects the ambition to strengthen (interdisciplinary) cooperation between the various…