News item | 01-10-2025 | 17:00
Liza Mügge, head teacher of political science at the University of Amsterdam, the feminist movement Dolle Mina and women’s organization Women of today have been nominated for the Joke Smit Oeuvre prize. The nominees for the Joke Smit encouragement prize are Sara Alaoui, Nienke
‘s Gravemade and Zoë papaikonomou. During the presentation on Monday 3 November, Koen Becking, State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science, will announce who the winners are in the Stadsgehoorzaal in Leiden.
The Joke Smit Prize is a biennial state prize that goes to a person or organization who is committed to gender equality. The winner of the oeuvre prize receives an art object and an amount of € 10,000. For the incentive prize, people or initiatives are eligible to make a successful contribution to improving the position of women in the Netherlands. The winner of the incentive price receives an amount of € 1,000. The nominees are determined by the jury of the Joke Smit Prize. The prize is named after the feminist Joke Smit (1933–1981), who has played a leading role in the women’s emancipation movement in the Netherlands.
Nominees Oeuvre Prize
Liza Mügge is the head teacher of political science at the University of Amsterdam. She has been committed to helping the position of women for more than 25 years. She is a connector and bridge builder who can link science and society to each other.
The Dolle Mina Feminist movement was founded in 1969 out of dissatisfaction with the position of women in society. With playful actions, they asked attention to women’s rights. In 2025, Dolle Mina is still committed to the improvement of women’s rights, such as during the actions in which women in fifteen cities asked cycling for women’s safety.
Women of today is a women’s organization with thousands of members throughout the Netherlands who are committed to a society in which women and men participate equal and fully. With specific projects for women in, for example, the energy transition and women in politics.
Nominees encouragement prize
Sara Alaoui is the founder of The Safe Space Club, a physical meeting place where women from all kinds of backgrounds come together for workshops and conversations about themes such as boundaries, sexual violence, recovery and self -determination.
Nienke ‘s Gravemade is an actress, writer and not least online feminist activist. With humorous films on Instagram, she brings toxic masculinity to the attention. Nienke ‘s Gravemade wrote the moving poem #rechtopdenacht, after the murder of Lisa.
Zoë Papaikonomou is a journalist, teacher, writer and podcast maker. By turning texts, she “improves” suggestive and misleading headlines. She thereby shows that texts can incorrectly influence the perception of the reader, often to the detriment of women.
The jury
The jury for the Joke Smit Prize consists of jury chairman Janneke Wittekoek (cardiologist for the Women’s Heart), Belle Barbé (founder of the sexuality school and known for TV program De Slimste Mens) and Iven Cudogham (writer of Anansi de Spin books and cartoon series, and is known from TV program a house full).