Mariëtte Iris Hamer (born 7 June 1958) is a Dutch politician and trade union leader serving as commissioner for combating inappropriate behavior and sexual violence since 2022. A member of the Labour Party (PvdA), she was its leader in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from 2008 to 2010.

Education and private career

A native of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, Hamer studied

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

. She is a co-founder and was chairwoman of the Dutch Student Union (LSVb); she later worked as an educator and at the

Ministry of Education, Culture and Science The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (; OCW) is the Dutch Ministry responsible for education, culture, science, research, gender equality and communications. The Ministry was created in 1918 as the Ministry of Education, Arts and Sci ...

Political career

House of Representatives

Hamer served as a member of the

from 19 May 1998 and 10 September 2014. From 22 January 2008 to 17 June 2010 she was

parliamentary leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislature, legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. ...

; she was succeeded by former Amsterdam Mayor and party leader

Job Cohen Marius Job Cohen (born 18 October 1947) is a retired Dutch politician and jurist who served as List of mayors of Amsterdam, Mayor of Amsterdam from 2001 to 2010 and Leader of the Labour Party (Netherlands), Leader of the Labour Party (PvdA) from ...

, who had just been elected to the House of Representatives. She focused on matters of

labour economics Labour economics seeks to understand the functioning and dynamics of the Market (economics), markets for wage labour. Labour (human activity), Labour is a commodity that is supplied by labourers, usually in exchange for a wage paid by demanding ...

day care Child care, also known as day care, is the care and supervision of one or more children, typically ranging from three months to 18 years old. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(ren), childcare typica ...

and

emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure Economic, social and cultural rights, economic and social rights, civil and political rights, po ...

. In the past she also focused on matters of

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

social affairs A ministry of social affairs or department of social affairs is the common name for a government department found in states where the government is divided into ministries or departments. While there is some variation in the responsibilities of su ...

. Hamer also was party chair in an interim capacity from 5 September 2000 until 16 March 2001.

Social and Economic Council

Since 10 September 2014 Hamer has been a Crown-appointed member and Chairwoman of the

Social and Economic Council The Social and Economic Council (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Sociaal-Economische Raad'', SER) is a major economic advisory council to the cabinet of the Netherlands. Formally it heads a Publiekrechtelijke Bedrijfsorganisatie, system of sector-based ...

(SER). She was nominated to the position by

Lodewijk Asscher Lodewijk Frans Asscher (; born 27 September 1974) is a Dutch politician and jurist who served as Leader of the Labour Party (PvdA) from 2016 to 2021 and parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives from 2017 to 2021. Asscher worked as a ...

, Minister of Social Affairs and Employment; King

Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born 27 April 1967) is King of the Netherlands since 30 April 2013. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht during the reign of his maternal grandmother, Queen Juliana, as the eldest ch ...

validated the appointment. She succeeded Wiebe Draijer, who resigned from office following his appointment as CEO of the

Rabobank Rabobank (; full name: ''Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A.'') is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Utrecht, Netherlands. The group comprises 89 local Dutch Rabobanks (2019), a central organisation (Raboban ...

. In the House of Representatives Hamer was succeeded by Henk Leenders. In 2022, Hamer was appointed by the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Mark Rutte Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as the 14th Secretary General of NATO, secretary general of NATO since October 2024. He previously served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, prime minister of the Neth ...

as commissioner for combating inappropriate behavior and sexual violence, a new role in which she is tasked with coming up with a plan to tackle sexually inappropriate behavior and sexual violence. At the request of Minister of Education

Robbert Dijkgraaf Robertus Henricus "Robbert" Dijkgraaf, (; born 24 January 1960) is a Dutch theoretical physicist, mathematician and string theorist and former politician. He served as the Minister of Education, Culture and Science in the Netherlands from 2 ...

, she investigated how such behavior could be mitigated at institutions of higher education. Hamer concluded they should step up their efforts, saying the behavior is particularly prevalent at those ages. She recommended colleges and universities to provide mandatory

sex education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual activity, sexual reproduction, safe sex, birth ...

, to hire

ombudsmen An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

, and to better inspect

student association A students' union or student union, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, organization ...

References

External links

;Official *
Drs. M.I. (Mariëtte) Hamer
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamer, Mariette 1958 births Living people Chairmen of the Labour Party (Netherlands) Chairmen of the Social and Economic Council Trade unionists from Amsterdam Dutch trade union leaders Dutch women activists Dutch activists Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Linguists from the Netherlands Dutch MPs 2012–2017 Members of the Social and Economic Council Politicians from Amsterdam People from Maassluis Dutch socialist feminists University of Amsterdam alumni 20th-century Dutch women politicians 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch women politicians Dutch MPs 2006–2010 Dutch MPs 2010–2012