Sexual crimes include sexual assault, rape and fornication of minors. According to the statistics office, the recent increase is mainly due to an increase in the number of registered rape and sexual assault cases. In 2022, 2,955 sexual assaults and 2,885 rapes were reported, a record.
According to Statistics Netherlands, the increase may also be the result of increasing social attention for sex crimes. For example, the abuses behind the scenes at The Voice of Holland came to light at the beginning of last year.