It was a protest against a discriminatory provision in the Criminal Code, introduced in 1911, that set a significantly higher age of consent for homosexual than for heterosexual contact.After earning her master's degree in 1972 from the University of Amsterdam, she led the political science library at that institution until 1977.
She was involved in the creation of the women's studies program at the university and worked to coordinate between activist groups to ensure that neither gender or sexual orientation were the basis for discriminatory policies.
Her mother worked as a kindergarten teacher prior to marriage and her father, Cornelis Marinus Swiebel,[1][2] served as the general secretary of the Social Security Council.
[5] In 1968, Swiebel was elected as the national chair of the newly formed Federatie Studenten Werkgroepen Homoseksualiteit (Federation of Student Working Groups on Homosexuality, FSWH).
[2] On 21 January 1969 the demonstrators handed out a pamphlet and candy hearts to the members of the States General of the Netherlands at the Binnenhof in the Hague to protest Article 248bis of the Dutch Criminal Code.
She continued her service until 1995 and that year participated in the Dutch government's delegation to the United Nations' World Conference on Women, held in Beijing.
[12] From 1995, Swiebel worked in various positions at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, simultaneously serving as the chair of the Council of Europe's Steering Committee for Equality between 1989 and 1995.
During her tenure, Swiebel was involved in legislation and produced reports which focused on free movement of persons throughout the European Union (EU), including asylum and migration laws.
[1][13] After retiring from politics, Swiebel continued her activism, inter alia as Co-President o the International Conference on LGBT Human Rights, hosted at the 2006 World Outgames in Montreal.
[1] In 2019, Swiebel was awarded the Ministry of Emancipation's Jos Brink Oeuvre Prize, for her lifetime of work on behalf of the LGBT community.