The number of reports of sex crimes is increasing explosively, especially in large cities

According to Jaap Grippeling, team leader of the North Holland police, it is a national trend. “What we see in all vice departments in the Netherlands is that the The Voice episode of BOOS has generated a lot of attention and that more people are coming to report as a result.”

Figures show that the increase in the number of reports is explosive, especially in large cities. The Center for Sexual Violence in the Amsterdam-Amstelland region also says so. The CSG guides victims of sexual violence to the right help and has been working for years on ‘a friendlier system’ for victims.

After the BOOS episode in January 2022, the number of requests for help in Amsterdam and surrounding areas went upside down, according to spokesman Richard Lancee.

“We received six times as many requests for help as normal. And after that it remained busy. People also regularly mentioned in conversations that they saw a television broadcast or newspaper article as a reason to seek help for their own experience. It would it may well be that the media attention has influenced this increase.”

The annual figures will be released in the course of next week, but a spokesperson informs NH News that there is approximately a doubling. A spokesperson for the national organization says that this image is actually true throughout the country.

See below how many reports and declarations of sexual offenses there are in your municipality have been done in the past four years. Text continues below the chart.

“About 75 percent of victims of sexual assault experience victim blaming when they tell what was done to them,” says Lancee. They are often disbelieved or blamed themselves.

Because this subject has become increasingly discussable in the media, in schools and in politics, victims dare to talk, is his lecture. “This applies to people who have experienced something recently, but also to people who were hurt years ago.”

Willy van Berlo thinks so too. She is a Sexual Violence program manager at Rutgers, a center of expertise that focuses on sexual health and rights. “People are more aware of sexually transgressive behaviour. My impression of this is confirmed by research by Statistics Netherlands. As a result, they recognize and recognize it sooner.”

And so they report it more often, she thinks. “And they are more likely to look for help. There is probably not much of an increase in violence, but people recognize: what happened to me is also included.” What Van Berlo does see: not everyone goes to the police after they have experienced sexual violence.

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“People do not find it necessary to report everything they have experienced. Usually the perpetrator is someone they know and that can also be a family member, a partner or a father.”

People also very often do not report the crime because they are afraid of the consequences or because they think that what they have experienced is not serious enough or cannot be proven, according to the expert. “In that case we say: do it now, because it is ultimately important that the perpetrators are dealt with.”

While everyone seems to agree that it is good news that more and more victims are finding their way to help, there are also concerns. For example, Van Berlo van Rutgers indicates: “Of course there must be enough capacity in the police and assistance. If the number of reports increases, they must be able to cope with that and I think there is still a question there.”

Zeden team leader Jaap Grippeling acknowledges that the press the vice squad is high from time to time. “We do our very best to help people as quickly as possible, but if you have more incidents to deal with, you get more on your plate. But: if you contact us, we will always make sure we are there as soon as possible , and that you can contact us as soon as possible.”

Probably in 2024 there will also be another change to the Sexual Offenses Act which in essence will ensure that more forms of sexual violence are made punishable.

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According to Grippeling, sex teams will also receive extra money for capacity from the government when the law comes into effect. So it seems that numbers now confirm what experts have been saying for a long time: although more people are finding their way to help, there are still many who are left with it.

Richard Lancee of the Center for Sexual Violence Amsterdam-Amstelland: “We know that there are about 100,000 new victims of sexual violence every year. Only a small part of them seek help and report it.”

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