Recommendation 22 (b): Amend the Media Act in line with articles 2 (f) and 5 (a) of the
Convention in order that gender role stereotyping is considered to be discrimination;
1. The right to freedom of expression guaranteed by the Dutch Constitution applies in
full to the media. They enjoy a large degree of freedom in this regard and it is
appropriate for government to exercise substantial restraint in this area. The degree
of freedom, however, is not unlimited. The criminal law imposes limits on the freedom
of expression: forms of expression that incite discrimination, racism, violence or
hatred are criminal offences.
2. The media operate within a social context, however, so it is essential for them to be
aware of changing opinions concerning (sexist) stereotyping and the influence they
have in this regard. Accordingly, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science
encourages and facilitates self-regulation within the sector. For example, the public
broadcasting system has an ombudsman who handles complaints about journalistic
programmes and keeps the broadcasting organisations alert to their responsibilities.
In addition, the Advertising Code Committee (Reclame Code Commissie; RCC)
examines individual advertisements when it receives, for example, complaints about
perceived breaches of good taste or decency.
3. Nevertheless, representation is an important subject worth investigating. In this light,
the Netherlands intends to examine how the representation and portrayal of women
is evolving. The cabinet has announced this in its Gender & LGBTI Equality Policy
Plan 2018-20211.
Recommendation 22 (c): Intensify engagement with relevant actors and allocate
resources to finance effective awareness-raising campaigns to promote positive and
non-stereotypical portrayals of women in the media and in advertisements and conduct a
study on the possible impact of sexist portrayals of women and girls in the media and
the extent to which they exacerbate gender-based violence against women in the State
party;

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“The government is considering how the representation of women and LGBTI persons in the media can be
investigated in a structural manner” (Gender & LGBTI Equality Policy Plan 2018-2021)

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4. In 2016, as a follow-up to the international conference on the theme ‘Women and the
Image of Women’, organised by the government with the Council of Europe in 2013,
the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science funded a study into the way it can
work with different stakeholders to create an agenda for the next few years founded
on evidence-based information. Initially, the focus was on the extent to which current
and future media-makers are aware of stereotyping and want access to tools and
resources to bring about change. This resulted in an initiative supported by the
Ministry of Education, Culture and Science since September 2017 (the
Representation in the Media Coalition; Coalitie Beeldvorming in de media). A number
of parties from both the public and commercial media and marketing sectors have
joined the Coalition with the goal of combating stereotyping in the media by
promoting a balanced (or more balanced) depiction of Dutch society. As well as
initiating activities within their own organisations, they aim to put this issue on the
agenda of the entire sector.
5. With regard to advertising, the Netherlands would refer to the Advertising Code
Committee (Reclame Code Commissie) set up by the Dutch Advertising Code
Authority. It has served as a form of self-regulation for over 50 years. Advertising
must be in accordance with the law, the truth, good taste and decency. It may not be
contrary to the public interest, public policy or moral or ethical standards. Anyone
who thinks a particular advert is incompatible with these interests is entitled to lodge
a complaint. When deciding what is and is not permissible within these limits, the
Committee takes current opinion into account. The government would point out that
in this sector too, awareness of the role advertising can play in stereotypical
portrayals is growing.
6. Sexist utterances in the media constitute a form of gender stereotyping.
Considerable research has been done into the influence of gender stereotypes in
media and advertising, one example being the 2017 report of the UK Advertising
Standards Association (ASA). The government believes it is important for the
Netherlands to make an assessment of the current situation as well. It is therefore
engaged in setting up a study of how the representation of women in the media is
evolving. The focus will be both on how often women are seen in the media and how
they are portrayed.
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7. The government would point out that although sexist media utterances are not in
themselves the main cause of sexism in general or of gender-related violence in
particular, they do contribute to a sexist climate in which gender-related violence can
occur.
Recommendation 24 (c): Systematically collect data on all forms of violence against
women, disaggregated by age and the relationship between the perpetrator and the
victim, as well as on protection measures, prosecutions and sanctions imposed on
perpetrators, in particular in the municipalities of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba
8. In April 2018, the programme ‘There’s No Place for Violence’ (Geweld hoort nergens
thuis) (2018-2020) was launched by the Ministry of Health, Welfare & Sport, the
Ministry of Justice & Security and the Association of Netherlands Municipalities,
working in collaboration with the Ministries of Education, Culture & Science and
Social Affairs & Employment (under the new government). The aim of the
programme is to reduce domestic violence and child abuse, to limit the damage
caused by violence and thus to break the cycle of violence, passed on from
generation to generation. This programme found that a large number of publications,
studies and examples of best practice to tackle domestic violence and child abuse
have already been produced. However there is room for improvement in how this
information is disseminated and utilised. So a research programme supervised by an
advisory committee has been set up to develop, among other things, an outcomemonitoring system. In addition, an instrument is being developed to monitor the
effects of the activities conducted by the relevant organisations, professionals and
public authorities.
9. In addition, central government is collecting data on domestic violence and child
abuse in a number of different ways.
10. The Safe at Home (Veilig Thuis) organisations (advice and reporting centres for
domestic violence and child abuse) are obliged under the Social Support Act 2015 to
provide policy information. This includes statistics on the total number of
recommendations issued, and reports of abuse and subsequent investigations
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carried out by Safe at Home, as well as the number of recommendations and reports
of abuse, categorised by the capacity of the person requesting advice or reporting
abuse, and the number of recommendations, categorised by the nature of the
violence. These figures are not broken down by gender. The data is published every
six months by Statistics Netherlands (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek; CBS). The
information supplied by Safe at Home for the year 2017 can be found at:
https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/publicatie/2018/25/beleidsinformatie-veilig-thuis-stand-vanzaken-in-2017 (in Dutch). Work is currently under way to improve and adapt the
information protocol in order to align registration with the current implementing
practices of Safe at Home organisations.
11. A study of the effectiveness of the approach to domestic violence and child abuse is
also under way. This is being carried out by the Verwey-Jonker Institute and
Erasmus University in collaboration with a number of other universities and
institutions of higher professional education. The study, which follows approximately
2,000 families for 18 months from 2017, looks at the help the families have received
in the period under review, whether the violence has stopped, and the well-being of
the parents and children. The research programme consists of various elements,
including a longitudinal study of intergenerational transference of violence
(completion in 2018), a cohort study of the effectiveness of the current approach
(completion in 2020) and a qualitative study of what kind of support has been
effective (completion in 2020).
12. In addition, population-based prevalence studies are being carried out. The Sexual
Health in the Netherlands Monitor, conducted by Rutgers, a centre of expertise on
sexual and reproductive health, is a representative study of the Dutch population and
deals with issues such as sexual violence or sexually transgressive behaviour among
both men and women. The most recent Monitor dates from 2017. In addition,
Rutgers and Soa Aids Nederland, an intervention specialist focusing on STIs and
HIV, conduct a regular survey entitled ‘Sex before you’re 25’ in collaboration with the
municipal health services. The survey provides a representative view of sexual
health among young people aged 12 to 25. Last conducted in 2017, this survey also
focuses on sexual violence and sexually transgressive behaviour among girls and
boys. In May 2018, a prevalence study of the nature and extent of elder abuse was
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published. It showed that men and women are equally likely to be the victims of such
abuse. Furthermore, in 2017 a study was launched into the incidence and
prevalence of female genital mutilation, which will be completed at the end of 2018.
13. Finally, at the beginning of 2019 a large-scale prevalence study of the nature and
extent of domestic violence and child abuse is due to be published. Following
criticism that the previous prevalence study (2010) lacked gender sensitivity,
measures were taken to improve the new study in this regard. To that end, an
advisory report (‘Improving Gender Sensitivity in Prevalence Studies on Domestic
Violence’) was published in May 2016. Drawn up by Regioplan, a policy research
consultant, and Bureau Dijkstra, an agency with expertise in the field of violence
within relationships, the report defines a gender-sensitive prevalence study as one
that clarifies the differences and similarities between men and women as
perpetrators/victims or in the impact violence has on them, as well as the extent to
which these differences/similarities are associated with gender. On the basis of the
advisory report and an expert meeting, a number of substantive and methodological
improvements were made to the current study. The prevalence study comprises
several sub-studies: an estimate of the prevalence of domestic violence and child
abuse using the capture-recapture method, a survey of school children and multiinformant study of child abuse, a study of perpetrators and prevalence estimates of
victims and perpetrators. A synthesis report based on these sub-studies will provide
a coherent and gender-sensitive picture of the current prevalence and nature of
domestic violence and child abuse and their concurrence within the family.
14. With regard to Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba, the decision was made to emphasise
the implementation of the administrative agreement on domestic violence and child
abuse for the period 2017-2020. This agreement was concluded by the Ministry of
Health, Welfare and Sport with the public authorities of the three islands. Its priorities
are prevention (awareness raising and information provision), enhancing the
expertise of the professionals concerned, strengthening the support provided and
cooperation within the entire support structure, including creating safe shelters for
victims, taking steps to enhance cooperation between support agencies and the
justice authorities, and setting up an easily accessible reporting system. In designing

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this system, attention will be paid to possible forms of registration.
Recommendation 36 (d): Intensify efforts to investigate, prosecute and sanction reported
cases of pregnancy-related discrimination, including sexual harassment;

15. In March 2017 the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (Sociale Zaken en
Werkgelegenheid; SZW) launched the Pregnancy-Related Discrimination Action
Plan, which complements the 2014 Labour Market Discrimination Action Plan. The
Pregnancy-Related Discrimination Action Plan contains 13 measures designed to
tackle this form of discrimination in the labour market, and is aimed in part at
enforcement, awareness-raising, reporting and registration. The labour discrimination
team at the SZW Inspectorate (Inspectie Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid; ISZW)
plays a role in enforcement. The team checks whether employers have a policy to
tackle discrimination on any of the twelve grounds listed in Dutch legislation. This
may be on grounds of sex, which includes pregnancy. At each visit to a company,
the team assesses whether and to what extent this is – or could be – a problem, and
whether the company’s policy and provisions are appropriate or require amendment.
16. The present government wishes to maintain a focus on pregnancy-related
discrimination, including within its broader labour-market policy. A new Labour
Market Discrimination Action Plan that will include measures to combat pregnancyrelated discrimination will be created before the end of 2018. In tackling
discrimination on grounds of pregnancy the emphasis will remain on knowledge
(information provision) and awareness among both pregnant women and employers.
The scope for strengthening the ISZW’s enforcement role with regard to monitoring
discrimination, including pregnancy-related discrimination, in recruitment and
selection is currently being explored. In the first six months of 2018, the Ministry of
Education, Culture and Science funded an awareness-raising project entitled Baby
and Job (Baby en Baan), including an online campaign targeting women of childbearing age who are employed or seeking employment. The main focus is the
importance of retaining or obtaining employment for pregnant staff and parents of
young children. The project has provided information to a large number of women on
their rights and scope for action. The online campaign has been extended to July

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2019, with the help of a financial contribution from the Ministry of Social Affairs and
Employment.
17. In recent years the same ministry has devoted considerable attention to the problem
of psychosocial stress factors in the workplace. This includes direct and indirect
discrimination in the workplace, including sexual harassment, aggression and
violence, bullying and pressure of work. These stress-causing factors often lead to
increased absenteeism and high staff turnover. Now that the government has put the
issue on the agenda, the emphasis has moved to supporting concrete measures
within organisations to prevent and tackle sexual harassment, among other factors.
For example, the government has drawn attention to the need to appoint confidential
advisers to whom victims can easily turn for care and to report inappropriate
behaviour. Just as in the case of discrimination, the ISZW monitors the measures
taken by employers to protect their staff from work-related stress, paying particular
attention to risks.
18. In its coalition agreement the present government announced that it would be
expanding ISZW’s capacity. Funding will gradually increase until 2021, when €50
million will be set aside annually for ISZW’s enforcement system. The subjects of
work-related stress and labour market discrimination, including pregnancy-related
discrimination, will be included in decision-making on the deployment of ISZW in the
coming years (scheduled for autumn 2018).
19. In addition to ISZW’s monitoring of pregnancy-related discrimination and workrelated stress, women themselves can report discrimination and sexual harassment
through a number of channels. They can, for example, lodge a complaint with their
local anti-discrimination service (Anti-Discriminatie Voorziening; ADV). The ADVs
offer support to victims of discrimination and can mediate in discussions with
employers. Cases can also be submitted to the Netherlands Institute for Human
Rights (College voor de Rechten van de Mens; CVRM) or the civil courts. Although
the Institute’s findings are not legally binding, the 87% follow-up rate shows that
defending parties are willing to take appropriate measures in response. The
Institute’s findings are always made public. Another possibility is to apply to the civil
courts for compensation. The 2017 Discrimination Cases Monitor shows that 35% of
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the 4,259 reports received by the Institute in that year concerned pregnancy-related
discrimination. An analysis by the Institute of the 855-plus cases reported to the
provisional pregnancy-related discrimination reporting centre (May/June 2017)
revealed that it is mostly women with a temporary or flexible contract who encounter
this type of discrimination.
20. Inappropriate sexual behaviour between adults is a criminal offence if compulsion is
involved, as is sexual interaction involving abuse of persons in a vulnerable situation
or position, or abuse of authority. Victims can report such behaviour to the police or
one of the sexual assault centres (Centrum Seksueel Geweld; CSG). The opening of
the 16th CSG in 2018 completed a national network of centres where victims of
sexual violence can find multidisciplinary (forensic, medical and psychosocial)
support.

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