Sexual violence against children includes all criminal acts of a sexual nature committed against a child, such as indecent acts, rape, child sexual abuse material or grooming. The National Rapporteur investigates the nature and scale of sexual violence against children in the Netherlands and issues recommendations on how to improve the comprehensive approach to combat sexual violence against children.
The comprehensive approach to combat sexual violence against children
Child victims of sexual violence are vulnerable, simply because they are children. They find it difficult to talk about what has happened to them, they are sometimes too young to do so or they may be ashamed, afraid or receiving threats. For these reasons, sexual violence against children often goes undetected.
In order to provide effective help to victims, prevent new victims and prosecute offenders, it is vital to gain insight into the characteristics of sexual violence against children and how often such crimes are committed. These insights can then be used to establish an effective strategy to deal with both victims and offenders and measure whether this approach is truly working. It is therefore vital that all parties capable of making a contribution are closely involved in formulating the comprehensive approach to combat sexual violence against children.
Investigating the nature and scale of sexual violence against children
The National Rapporteur continually investigates the nature and scale of sexual violence against children in the Netherlands, as well as the effectiveness of the comprehensive approach. When discussing sexual violence against children, the term 'child' refers to persons under the age of 18. Every other year, the National Rapporteur publishes the results of its investigations via the Victims monitoring report and the Offenders monitor report, which can be found in the publications section.