Karin Yvonne Irene Jansen Adelmund was born on 18 March 1949 in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. She was the daughter of Fritz Jansen Adelmund and Anna van der Hoven. She had two brothers and three sisters.[1]
She went to Protestant primary and secondary schools in Rotterdam. She then studied at the Public Social Academy (1968–1972) in Rotterdam and she studied social sciences at the University of Amsterdam (1972–1979) in Amsterdam.[1]