hekma finished gymnasium-β, and in 1978 obtained his master's degree in cultural anthropology at the vrije universiteit amsterdam. from 1979 to 1981, he worked at utrecht university. he was one of the organizers of the june 1983 social-scientific congress "among women, among men" (dutch: "onder vrouwen, onder mannen"). in 1987, hekma received his phd in historical anthropology from utrecht university.