The appeal in the hate speech case against PVV leader Geert Wilders will continue. The court in The Hague saw no reason to declare the Public Prosecutor inadmissible, as Wilders had requested. The court will, however, allow the defense to call former Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten, former head of the Public Prosecution Service Herman Bolhaar and a number of senior officials to testify as witnesses, NOS reports.
discrimination
Jan 10 '19 15:15
Jan 9 '19 12:50
The Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam is considering taking steps against Piet de Vries. The theology lecturer compared the gender discussion with the situation in the Second World War, when the Nazi ideology was "forced upon the Netherlands". The board of the university announced that it will have a firm talk with the man and take appropriate action, NU.nl reports.
Jan 9 '19 09:29
LGBTQ interest group COC is organizing a "Celebration of Love" in Amsterdam on Wednesday in response to the Dutch translation of the so-called Nashville declaration, which was signed by hundreds of Dutch pastors and other orthodox Christians. Mayor Femke Halsema will speak at the event, AT5 reports.
Jan 8 '19 16:00
The Public Prosecution Service will assess whether the controversial Nashville declaration is punishable, the Prosecutor announced after a commotion arose about a Dutch translation of the anti-LGBTQ text that has now been signed by hundreds of pastors and other orthodox Christians in the Netherlands. How long this assessment will take, is not yet clear, AD reports.
Jan 7 '19 13:10
SGP leader Kees van der Staaij is sticking to the Nashville declaration, which he and hundreds of pastors of the Dutch Protestant Church signed, even after a storm of criticism. The declaration explicitly rejects homosexuality and transgender people, and suggests sexual orientation and gender are things people can be "cured" of. It also stresses that marriage is a covenant between one man and one woman.
Jan 7 '19 07:49
Hundreds of Dutch Protestant pastors, prominent people in the church, as well as the party leader and a senator of Christian party SGP, signed a manifesto against LGBTQ people. The manifesto argues that marriage is meant to only be a covenant between one man and one woman, and that good Christians should always reject homosexuality. It also suggests that your sexual identity is something you can be healed of.
Dec 21 '18 12:40
A day after the first conviction for sexual harassment on the street, Rotterdam is expanding this regulation. The ban now also applies to harassing LGBTQ people, not only women, NOS reports.
Dec 12 '18 07:55
The Public Prosecutor wants harsher punishment for those who insult or assault people based on their gender identity, according to a new designation of discrimination the Public Prosecution Service published on Tuesday. From January 1st Prosecutors will be able to demand harsher punishments if someone is discriminated against because they are transsexual or transgender, RTL Nieuws reports.
Nov 22 '18 13:20
State Secretary Tamara van Ark of Social Affairs and Employment wants to make it mandatory for companies to make policies that prevent discrimination against job applicants. To enforce this, the Social Affairs and Employment Inspectorate will be given more powers. The Inspectorate will be given the task to monitor companies' policies and issue penalties to employers who ignore the new obligation, ANP reports.
Oct 8 '18 12:20
The Supreme Court shot down one of the Dutch government's main arguments for abolishing dividend tax. The Netherlands' dividend tax is legally very sustainable and not discriminatory for foreign investors. It therefore does not have to be abolished to prevent lawsuits and repayment of taxes, Advocate General Peter Wattel of the Supreme Court wrote in advice to the government, NOS reports.
Sep 19 '18 08:02
Those who live in problem areas and break the law must be punished twice as harshly as those from another neighborhood who commit the same crime, according to VVD leader Klaas Dijkhoff. In this way he wants to force problem neighborhoods on the right path, he said to newspaper AD.
Dijkhoff will expand on his plan during the General Considerations, the parliamentary debate on next year's budget, on Wednesday.
Sep 11 '18 10:20
The VVD's newest parliamentarian Thierry Aartsen, who will replace Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert in the Tweede Kamer on Thursday, is facing criticism about comments he made on Twitter in the past. Despite the controversy, Aartsen can count on the support of faction leader Klaas Dikjhof. As far as he is concerned, Aartsen is "most welcome" in the VVD parliamentary faction, NU.nl reports.
Aug 29 '18 08:22
One float in the Brabantsedag Heeze theater parade caused a bit of an uproar on Facebook. According to Sun Shain, who posted a video of the float in question on Facebook, it looks like a slave ship, carrying people in blackface makeup.
Aug 20 '18 12:30
The murder of Kerwin Duinmeijer will be commemorated on Dam Square in Amsterdam on Monday afternoon. Exactly 35 years ago, the 15-year-old Antillean boy was stabbed to death by skinheads in the city.
Aug 7 '18 12:50
An Ugandan asylum seeker who was staying with the nuns of Missionaries of Charity in Amsterdam, was not allowed to return to the shelter after she revealed that she is a lesbian and helped with the Canal Pride Parade. RozeLinks, the GroenLinks branch focused on LGBTQ rights, is organizing a 'lesbian kissing-in' on August 8th, Savanna Koolen of Rozelinks said to Het Parool.
Jul 10 '18 15:20
Publisher Kluitman decided to remove children's book 'Suriname, here we come' from its stock due to accusations that the book's content is discriminatory or even racist.
The book offers its young readers fun 'facts' about Suriname. But whether Surinamese people would consider these facts fun is another story. An Amsterdam resident spotted the book while in the library with her child and posted some photos on Facebook. Journalist Anna Krijger shared these on Twitter.
May 24 '18 08:37
Housing association De Voorzorg in Hoensbroek discriminated against potential tenants between 2013 and 2016, according to forensic investigation by Integis. When talking to potential tenants, the housing association looked at things like race, appearance, health, sexual orientation, religion, ex-partners, hobbies and even body odor, and this played a role in the allocation of housing, NOS reports.
May 18 '18 07:58
Perfumery Douglas in Leeuwarden caused a social media uproar by moving a saleswoman who wears a headscarf to their warehouse so that she is no longer in the shop with clients. The perfumery announced that it will adjust its clothing guidelines.
May 17 '18 13:50
Lawyer Geert-Jan Knoops asked for the appeal in the hate speech case against Geert Wilders to be postponed on Thursday. The PVV leader needs more time for investigation, his lawyer said on the first of 11 days set aside for the appeal, NU.nl reports.
May 9 '18 16:00
The court in The Hague will start the hate speech appeal against PVV leader Geert Wilders next week Thursday. Eleven days were set aside for the trial, which will be held in the high security court at Schiphol, RTL Nieuws reports.
Apr 27 '18 17:10
Last year 3,499 discrimination incidents were registered with the police in the Netherlands, a decrease of 20 percent compared to 2016. The decline is particularly visible at police units Amsterdam, Midden-Nederland and Oost-Nederland, according to figures the police released on Thursday, NOS reports.
Apr 23 '18 08:42
Dutch Facebook users provide a remarkably large stream of posts containing hate, racism, an wishes for someone to get a disease like cancer. The number of such posts coming from southern European countries, for example, is much lower, the Volkskrant reports based on its own research.
The newspaper based its report on an anonymous interview with a Dutch man who worked for Facebook as moderator in Berlin last year, leaked emails, internal documents, and a colleague who supported his story. A Dutch team, which varies from five to eight people, works as Facebook moderators in Berlin.
Apr 20 '18 10:02
Earlier this week the Dutch police announced that it established a youth council, which will give the police a young person's perspective on important social issues. The first topic up for discussion was discrimination. But Control Alt Delete, an organization that fights against racial profiling, wonders to what extent the 16 "predominantly white" young people on the youth council can advise the police based on their experiences with this topic.
Apr 16 '18 08:14
The number of complaints about discrimination against people with disabilities reached a record high last year. The Netherlands Institute for Human Rights received a total of 810 such complaints, compared to 579 in 2016 and 342 in 2015, RTL Nieuws reports.
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