Police sent thousands of sex crimes victims to support services this year
The Dutch police are increasingly referring victims of sex crimes to aid organizations like HelpWanted, the Sexual Violence Center, Perspectief Herstelbemiddeling, and Veilig Thuis. In 2021, the police referred a few dozen victims to these organizations for support with trauma processing, safety, or mediation with the perpetrator. This year, they’ve already referred thousands of victims, NOS reports.
These are people who did not want to press charges or whose investigations were halted due to insufficient evidence, for example. According to the police, the actual number of referrals is likely much higher because they are not always recorded.
“Evidence remains difficult in cases of sexual abuse because it is often a one-on-one situation,” a police spokesperson told NOS. According to him, in 85 percent of cases, the perpetrator is someone the victim knows. “Victims don’t always want their grandfather or father, for example, to be prosecuted. They then choose a different route.”
In 2021, the police referred one in ten victims to an aid organization after they reported the crime. That number has grown to approximately four in ten this year. “We are increasingly collaborating with support organizations,” said the police spokesperson. “Victims of sexual offenses sometimes benefit more from support services than from prosecuting the perpetrators. Therefore, we present various options to the victim, who decides for themselves.”
According to Anna Pastor of Perspectief Herstelbemiddeling, an organiztion that mediates conversations between victims and perpetrators, victims especially benefit from acknowledgement of the crime committed against them when processing. “In cases of sexual offenses, victims often have many questions: ‘Why me?’ and ‘How could you do that?’ They sometimes place the responsibility on themselves,” she told NOS. “And then a conversation with the perpetrator who counters that can be very helpful.”
