The Dutch police rescued children from sweltering cars in two separate incidents on Thursday. Both incidents were reported to Veilig Thuis, the hotline for domestic violence and child abuse, ANP reports.
Two children were taken from a hot car parked at a supermarket in Ter Aar, Zuid-Holland. The kids' father, a 38-year-old man from Kaag en Braassem, was arrested.
The Netherlands is too slow in acting against domestic violence, according to mayor Pauline Krikke of The Hague. "Nationwide there are 50 deaths per year due to domestic violence. In every classroom in the Netherlands there is at least one child that has to deal with child abuse or relational violence between parents", she said to the Volkskrant.
A 33-year-old man was arrested in Oosterhout on Monday afternoon after he kidnapped a baby in Breda. The baby was found safe and unharmed, still in the man's possession. Paramedics took care of the baby while the seemingly disturbed man was arrested, AD reports.
The man has some kind of connection with the child, though the police would not confirm the relationship due to privacy concerns. The police did say that the man had an appointment with aid workers and a woman at aid organization Veilig Thuis and that he took the baby from there.
The reorganization of child welfare and youth care had no positive effects. On the contrary, waiting lists get longer and longer and there is less staff, while the number of violence reports increase. It regularly happens that a child ends up on a waiting list and sometimes have to wait months for help, while the abuse continues, according to the Youth Care Inspectorate
All police officers should know how to deal with domestic violence reports - whether he works on the streets or behind a desk - and be able to act quickly and call in extra expertise if necessary, Minister Ard van der Steur of Security and Justice said to the lower house of Dutch Parliament on Thursday
The reporting point for child abuse Veilig Thuis is dealing with months-long waiting lists, no oversight on the safety of abused children and unreachable doctors, according to a report by the Youth Care Inspectorate
The city of Amsterdam has teamed up with a number of professionals, including pediatricians, doctors and health insurers, to get the 2,300 morbidly obese children in the city to a healthy weight. The goal for this cooperation is to reduce obesity through more efficient and more organized cooperation, the municipality announced in a press release on Thursday.
