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Let Us Speak launches 'Protest Handbook'

#IMPACTSTORIES

2 September 2025

In a time when the right to demonstrate is increasingly more under pressure throughout Europe, it's more important than ever to know and understand your rights. Especially for young people, the desire to take action often clashes with legal uncertainty. What am I allowed to do? What happens if I am stopped by the police? Can I be arrested? What does that mean for my residence permit or scholarship? To answer these questions, Let Us Speak, a platform for legal education and informed activism, is launching the 'Protest Handbook': a practical, accessible guide that provides young activists in the Netherlands with the legal and practical knowledge to demonstrate safely.
Why this Handbook?

Let Us Speak was founded in 2023 by two law students, Margaux Duillet and Léa Cuvelier, as part of the Justice Entrepreneurship program of the UvA, Amsterdam Law Hub. The goal was clear: many young people care about social, political, and ecological issues, but hesitate to take to the streets.

Workshops and conversations revealed that the main reasons for this are: uncertainty about the law, fear of legal consequences, and lack of accessible and reliable information.The 'Protest Handbook' provides an answer to these obstacles. It compiles legal knowledge, activist experience, and practical tips in a handy format, clear and organized. The goal: to make the right to protest understandable in order to be better prepared to take action together.

What's contained in the handbook:

  1. The right to protest: An overview of demonstration rights in the Netherlands and under international law, including the limits and how authorities may respond.
  2. During the demonstration: Practical explanations of your rights and obligations in common situations, such as surveillance, identity checks, searches, police violence, and arrests – with realistic examples.
  3. Legal consequences: An outline of possible repercussions, for example for your criminal record, residence permit or scholarship.
  4. Safety tips: Advice from experienced activists on how to prepare well and stay safe during a protest.

For whom?

The handbook is designed for anyone who wants to participate in a demonstration and wants to know more about their rights and obligations in the Netherlands. Let Us Speak hopes it will be used as a practical guide before a protest, as a resource in workshops, and as an educational tool in various settings – from universities and high schools to community centers and informal learning groups. It is not only a reference work but also intended to spark conversations and build confidence.

A collaborative project

The handbook was created with the commitment of a team of volunteers from Let Us Speak: Léa Cuvelier, Margaux Duillet, Janne Calis, Karlo Welch, and Rangelle Pichay, illustrator Fadri Brunner, and the artists' workshop No Other Option. Let Us Speak also collaborated with various partners, including Jebbink Soeteman Advocate, and the Migrant Legal Advice Foundation. The Amsterdam Law Hub supported the project with guidance from Frances Singleton-Clift, and there was financial support from the Alert Fund for Youth.

More to come

The 'Protest Handbook' is a living document. As legislation changes and new challenges arise, its content will continue to evolve.A new event is scheduled for next month, where legal experts will engage in discussion and collective reflection on the future of youth participation in social debate will take place. Keep an eye on the Let Us Speak website  for updates. The 'Protest Handbook' is available in print and will soon also be online.