Doutzen Kroes in new dance4life TV commercial

From today, the new dance4life TV commercial, with Doutzen Kroes in the lead, can be seen. The commercial is part of the ‘MY Story’ campaign, in which young people from all over the world tell their personal stories. Doutzen Kroes speaks on behalf of the young people that are not able, or do not dare, to tell their own stories, mostly due to prejudice in their communities.

Originally, Doutzen Kroes did not plan to participate in this commercial. A girl with HIV was to tell her own story, but had to withdraw at the last minute. The people around her did not want her to share her story. And exactly this emphasises just why the campaign is so necessary; even in 2012, in the Netherlands, it is still difficult to talk about HIV. When dance4life ambassador Doutzen Kroes heard about this, she immediately offered to speak on behalf of those young people who cannot do so themselves, because of taboos and prejudices in their communities. The 27 year old model was convinced straightaway of the urgency, and didn’t hesitate to take the role over.

Doutzen Kroes explains: “It really upsets me that here in the Netherlands there are still so many taboos. This young woman should be telling her own story, not me! But apparently we are not that tolerant here in the Netherlands. I strongly believe that these stories need to be told, and that is why I am telling them now.”



MY story
With the campaign MY story, dance4life wants to break the silence around sex. That this is still relevant in the Netherlands is reinforced by the fact that many young people in this country still do not dare to speak out about sexuality. In the MY story campaign, the stories of young people from all over the world are central. Read the stories on: www.dance4life.com/mystory

Doutzen Kroes & dance4life
Doutzen Kroes has been a dance4life ambassador since 2009, when she visited the dance4life project in Tanzania. The photos of this trip were also auctioned. In 2011, the model gave the start sign for dance4life USA, during a visit to a school in a disadvantaged neighbourhood in Philadelphia. In September 2012, Doutzen Kroes will visit dance4life projects in Thailand.

dance4life
Every day, around 7,000 people are infected with HIV, half of which are under 25. dance4life gives young people the correct information about sex, HIV and AIDS, and provides them with the skills needed to be able to protect themselves and those around them. Furthermore, dance4life inspires young people to take action to stop the worldwide spread of HIV and AIDS. The (Dutch) initiative is active in nearly 30 countries, spread over 5 continents.