The Netherlands is implementing stricter laws around sex crimes, according to a new legislative proposal Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Security announced. Under the new law you can be punished both if you know the other person did not want to have sex, and if you could have known that. When in doubt, the person initiating sexual acts has the duty to ask whether the other person is okay with what is happening, under the new law, NOS reports.
sex crime
May 16 '19 11:00
The Ministry of Justice and Security hid the number of serious crimes committed by asylum seekers in the Netherlands by including crimes like sexual offenses, aggravated assaults, and murder and manslaughter or attempts thereto under the heading of "other" in figures released to parliament, the Telegraaf reports.
May 3 '19 08:32
The student campuses in Amsterdam are not safe, student union ASVA warns. The union received 39 reports of incidents over the last two months alone, mainly involving incidents of violence, sexual offenses, robbery and burglary, AD reports.
A large part of these reports came from the Spinoza Campus and the nearby apartment buildings Echtenstein and Bergwijkdreef in Amsterdam Zuidoost. Students also feel unsafe at the campus on the NDSM wharf, according to ASVA.
Apr 15 '19 10:10
After five consecutive years of consistent decrease, the number of crimes registered in the Netherlands increased in the first quarter of 2019. In the first three months of this year, 5 percent more crimes were registered than in the first quarter of 2018, according to figures the police released on Monday.
Mar 28 '19 08:19
The psychiatric clinic in Den Dolder where Michael P. was being prepared for his return to society when he raped and killed Anne Faber, did not treat him based on his history of sexual offenses, the Volkskrant reports based on sources around the Dutch Safety Board report on this case that was presented on Thursday. When he was transferred from prison, the clinic was insufficiently informed about P.'s sex crime past. But the clinic also did not do a risk profile on the man, the newspaper writes.
Feb 13 '19 12:40
Victims of sexual violence in the Netherlands no longer have to pay healthcare deductibles when they incur medical costs. With this one year long experiment, the Dutch government wants to find out whether free care will lower the threshold for seeking help, NOS reports.
Victims can go to a Center for Sexual Violence to get help. These are usually connected to hospitals' emergency room. The Centers perform trace evidence investigation, but they also offer psychological help and tests for venereal diseases.
Feb 8 '19 13:40
The total number of crimes registered by the Dutch police in 2018 decreased by 6 percent compared to the year before, Statistics Netherlands reports. The number of sex crimes, however, is on the rise.
The police registered almost 9 thousand sexual offenses like rape, sexual harassment or -assault last year, compared to 8,400 in 2017. The number of rape reports increased from 1,200 in 2014 to 1,900 last year. And the number of sexual assault reports increased from 1,700 in 2015 to 2,400 last year.
Jan 18 '19 08:45
Continuing the trend of past years, the number of registered crimes in the Netherlands dropped in 2018. The police registered a total of 766,638 crimes, a decrease of 6.1 percent compared to 2017. However, the police note that the decrease is slowing down. "The decline seems to have come to an end in the last six months", the police said.
Dec 18 '18 09:25
The Justice and Security Inspectorate is launching an investigation into how the police and Public Prosecution Service treat victims of sexual offenses. The Inspectorate will approach 80 victims of rape and sexual assault and hopes to speak to at least 55 of them about how the authorities treated them while handling their cases, NOS reports.
Aug 24 '18 09:50
A man from Belgium was checked in the Vosges mountains in France on Thursday after Dutch police officers mistook him for Jos B., the man suspected of murdering 11-year-old Nicky Verstappen in 1998, the Limburg police confirmed to NU.nl.
The Belgian man was not arrested as some media sources reported, only checked to confirm his identity, the Limburg police said.
Aug 6 '18 09:33
The police in Limburg sent a letter of apology to a woman who was raped by a patient of a psychiatric prison who was on unaccompanied leave in December 2016. While being questioned after reporting the rape, the then 21-year-old woman was put under pressure by two sex crime detectives who did not believe her, The Volkskrant reports.
Aug 1 '18 15:10
The police are looking for witnesses to a serious sex crime that happened in the vicinity of Hertzorgstraat and Heemstraat between midnight and 7:00 a.m. on Sunday. A 33-year-old woman was forced into a van, held captive and sexually assaulted.
At around 6:00 a.m. on Sunday the police received a report of a woman walking on Ostadestraat and asking bystanders for help. Officers found the woman on the street. She told them that she had been the victim of a sex crime committed by two men.
Jul 19 '18 13:40
As more European countries are implementing laws under which sex without explicit consent is considered rape, calls are sounding in the Netherlands to introduce a similar law.
Sweden implemented a law on July 1st which states that you have to ask permission before having sex. If the other person does not give explicit permission, you can be convicted of rape. Earlier this week Spain announced that it will soon introduce a similar law.
Jun 15 '18 10:50
The police arrested a 17-year-old boy from Almelo on Wednesday on suspicion of involvement in a "serious sex crime" that was committed in the vicinity of Kolthofsingel during the early morning hours of May 30th. Exactly what crime the boy is suspected of involvement in, the police did not say.
A 48-year-old person was the victim of the sex crime. An extensive trace evidence investigation was done at and around the scene, and sniffer dogs were used to search for traces.
The investigation led the police to the 17-year-old boy. He was arrested at his home on Wednesday.
Jun 8 '18 12:10
The police need to change their approach to handling sexual abuse and human trafficking, according to Merel van Groningen, experience expert and counselor for loverboy victims. Fewer and fewer underage victims come forward because of the police's attitude, she said to the Telegraaf.
"I know of cases of minor loverboy victims who were told by a detective: 'but it was your own fault'. You've lost such a victim", Van Groningen said.
May 11 '18 11:40
A woman was attacked by a man in Wolfsweide park in Rijen on Wednesday night. The police are looking for witnesses of this "serious sex crime", the police said in a statement.
What happened, was not revealed.
Investigators would like to talk to anyone who noticed anything strange in or around the park between 8:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday night. People who were in the park are explicitly asked to contact the police.
Feb 20 '18 07:42
Dutch detectives are struggling under a massive workload and as a result can only get to a fraction of their tasks, police union NPB says in a new report that will be sent to the Tweede Kamer on Tuesday. The Netherlands is turning into a "narco state" where drug trafficking thrives and most criminal groups are left undisturbed, the union warns in the report that NOS has in its position.
Oct 23 '17 09:57
The risk of a sex crime convict committing a sex crime again is not well estimated in the Netherlands, Corinne Dettmeijer, the Netherlands' National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking and Sexual Violence Against Children, said based on a report published on Sunday. According to her, there is a proper international method available to assess the risk of recurrence, and the Netherlands should consider implementing it, ANP reports.
Sep 7 '17 14:40
A large part of the Burgemeester van Sonsbeeck park in Breda has been closed off to the public with crime scene tape since 5:00 a.m. on Thursday morning. A number of police officers are investigating a sex crime in the park, according to the Telegraaf.
Exactly what the officers are looking for, is unclear. To protect the privacy of the victim, the police will not comment on the case.
According to reporter Eva de Schipper, two bicycles can be seen in different areas inside the closed off part of the park. The police are investigating the bushes behind one of the bicycles.
Jun 30 '17 15:40
Police in the Netherlands will begin testing suspects held in violent crimes for drug and alcohol use beginning on Saturday when a new law authorizing the additional testing comes into effect. Before a suspect may be tested, police must already have suspicion that the offense was committed under the influence, the government stated.
Jul 12 '16 10:05
A 21-year-old Belgian tourist was found murdered on Sint Maarten on Sunday. Wendy Montulet's family sounded the alarm when she did not return from a last jog on the Caribbean island. Her body was found in some bushes after an hours long search
