The justice system in Limburg handled fewer cases of discrimination against the national trend last year than in 2020.
Last year, the Public Prosecution Service handled 16 cases involving discrimination, compared to 31 a year earlier. This is evident from the report Figures in Picture 2021 of the Public Prosecution Service. In Limburg it is therefore almost a halving.
rural
This contrasts sharply with rural development. There, the number of discrimination cases rose by 76 to a total of 485, an increase of just under 20 percent. Limburg is the only district that showed a decline.
The vast majority of discrimination cases were handled last year by the Public Prosecution Service at the district public prosecutor’s offices in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Only in North Holland were even fewer of these cases handled than with us.
Insult
157 of all suspicions related specifically to discrimination, and in particular to group insults. In the remaining 328 cases, discrimination played a role and often involved insulting an individual (72 percent).
Footnote
According to the Public Prosecution Service, the figures say little about the actual number of discrimination incidents in the Netherlands. “Not everything that people may experience as discrimination is punishable. Moreover, not everything that is punishable ends up with the Public Prosecution Service. Discrimination is not always reported,” the Public Prosecution Service writes in an explanation. “It is also possible that no suspect is found after an investigation or that there is insufficient evidence. These are some factors that explain why the number of offenses entered with the Public Prosecution Service is always lower than the registrations with the police.”