Two abused sisters from The Hague get compensation for social worker failings

In an unprecedented case, two sisters from The Hague have received compensation of 5,000 euros each from the youth protection organization Jeugdbescherming West for failing to adequately protect the two in their childhood from the physical and mental abuse of their parents.

After a series of cries for help, the two girls were under the care of social workers in 2011, as well as in the period 2018 to 2020. However, the youth protection organization has not managed to protect the two sisters from the violence in their family. According to NOS, this is the first case in which a youth protection organization has to pay financial compensation for this reason.

The two sisters, who are now in their twenties, come from a conservative Hindustani family. They say that to this day they suffer from physical as well as psychological ailments that resulted from years of abuse by their parents. The two young women have been in therapy for several years to treat the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) they have been diagnosed with.

The youth protection organization commented that in this particular case, it "failed as a government to protect children from violence,” Jeugdbescherming West told NOS. The reason is said to be the flawed system caused by not enough offers of help and waiting lists that are too long, the organization stressed.

According to research, the problem takes on a large scale, as domestic violence in families continues for years after being reported to the authorities in more than half of cases. Child abuse cases also affect between 90,000 and 127,000 children each year.