The Hague shuts down its hotline for reporting sexual harassment in public

The municipality of The Hague will stop collecting reports of sexual harassment in public. The reporting center for this, which opened in December 2022, “seems redundant” and is therefore being shut down. Sexual harassment on the street has been a punishable offense throughout the country since July 1, which means that victims can go directly to the police.

In the past year, the city registered 51 reports of sexual harassment in public, mainly in the summer months. This is in line with previous years and, according to The Hague, is also comparable to other municipalities. The number of reports is too small to discover trends or find certain places where people are more at risk, the municipality said.

People who want to report sexual harassment on the street can do so with the police. Members of the LGBTQIA+ community and “residents with visible religious beliefs” can also turn to Discriminatie.nl.