Amsterdam Woman of Choice

 We went on a walking tour of Amsterdam and learned about women who made a difference. I especially was amazed by Aletta Jacobs. We learned about her as we walked through the Red Light District. We got to see her apartment door that is still there. I thought it was amazing that she went out of her way to help women in the Red Light District. For one, I learned from our professors on our walking tour that she started the first birth control clinic. She truly fought for women and our rights and that is so inspiring to me. We learned that she really helped women in the Red Light District get access to medical care and I think the access to birth control was especially important in terms of women’s rights.

Aletta Jacobs’ contribution was so important for women. She gave women access to more rights such as birth control. As a woman I feel this is so important to women and the control they are able to have over their bodies. The women in the Red Light District were in poverty so they were sex workers and I am sure many looked down on them for this and thus were discriminated against. Aletta Jacobs was able to help these women by giving them medical care that they did not have access to. This was especially necessary for these women in the Red Light District as they may have received many different diseases or an unwanted pregnancy. Aletta Jacobs helped pave the way for women’s equality. 

I do not think Aletta Jacobs had been commemorated well enough. I had never heard of Aletta Jacobs before we went on this walking tour that our professors gave us. We walked by her apartment door that was in between two sex shops. I took a picture in front of it, but there was no way for me to tell it was hers. I did not see anything on the door or around it to commemorate her. I think she could have something to commemorate her better in Amsterdam and I also think she deserves to be remembered and recognized worldwide as well.