Implementation of the
Beijing Declaration and
Platform for Action
Netherlands Review Report

Implementation of the
Beijing Declaration and
Platform for Action
Netherlands Review Report

I. Major achievements and challenges during 20 years of policy
development for gender equality

8

Overview
Three major achievements in emancipation policy
I. Integral approach towards gender equality as the new policy paradigm
II. Economic independence as a central element of gender equality and the
empowerment of women
III. Approach to human rights and the inclusion of the emancipation of
		 lesbian women, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people (LGBT) in
		 the emancipation policy
Three persistent challenges faced when promoting gender equality
I. Making the gender dimension recognisable in social issues
II. Social involvement in emancipation issues
III. Negative images and stereotypes

9
10
11

II. Progress in the implementation of the critical areas of concern in the		
Platform for Action since 2009
A. Women and Poverty		
Combating poverty in the Netherlands
International fight against poverty/development cooperation

18
19
20
21

B. Education and Training of Women		
Female graduates
Vocational education
Higher/university education
Female professors
Post-initial education

22
22
22
22
23
23

11

13
14
15
15
16

C. Women and Health		
24
Alliance of government and non-government organisations on Women and Health 24
Transgender people
24
Gender Identity Recognition Act (Wet erkenning genderidentiteit)
25
Insurance coverage of breast implants
25
D. Violence against Women
Government-wide policy addressing violence against women
Gender sensitivity of policies

27
27
28

Figures on domestic violence
Figures on child abuse
Female genital mutilation
Tackling the pimping of young girls
Forced marriage
Central role of local governments
Training of professionals
Abuse of the elderly
Specific approach to perpetrators
Preventing and stopping the intergenerational transfer of violence
Changing unwanted stereotypes
Tackling of human trafficking
Legislation on human trafficking
“Appearances are Deceiving” campaign
Shelter for victims of human trafficking
Figures on the number of (possible) victims of human trafficking
Guidelines for first-line identification of victims
Residence scheme for victims of human trafficking
Act for regulating prostitution and combating abuse in the sex industry
(Wet regulering prostitutie en bestrijding misstanden seksbranche - WRP)
Empowerment of prostitutes

28
29
29
30
30
31
31
32
32
34
35
35
37
38
38
39
39
39

E. Women and Armed Conflict		
Proportion of men and women among diplomatic staff, and civilian and military
defence staff
Asylum applications and female asylum seekers (Section III, Tables 13 up to and
including 20)
Providing satisfactory housing throughout the asylum procedure
Domestic violence and regarding gender-related prosecution as grounds
for asylum
Implementation of Resolution 1325
Succession to MDG3 Fund
Action Plan 1325
Projects in the NAP 1325

44

F. Women and the Economy		
Legal framework against discrimination by sex
Parental leave

50
51
52

4

41
42

44
45
45
45
47
47
47
48

Labour participation of women and men
Economic independence of women and men
Unemployment among women and men
Parental leave
Pregnancy discrimination
Childcare
Work and care
Pay differences between women and men / gender pay gap
Pensions of men and women

52
53
55
56
57
58
58
59
61

G. Women in Power and Decision-making		
Women within political parties
Women in the Senior Civil Service
Mayors
Diplomats
Women in senior positions in the private sector

62
63
63
64
64
64

H. Institutional Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women		
The Gender Minister
Personnel resources and organisation
Knowledge infrastructure and women’s organisations

65
65
66
66

I. Human Rights of Women		
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW)
Mainstreaming gender equality in the EU
Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic
violence (CAHVIO)
Forced marriage
Sexual and reproductive rights international

68
68
69
69
69
70

J. Women and the Media		
Policies to promote gender equality in media organisations
Proportion of women and men in decision making in the media

71
71
71

K. Women and the Environment		

73

5

L. The Girl Child		
Sex and diversity education
Achievements of girls and boys in primary and secondary education
Girls gender stereotypes and self-esteem in study careers

74
74
74
75

III. Data and statistics
A. Women and Poverty		
Table 1: Proportion and number of women at risk of falling into poverty
Table 2: Economic independence of women in different age groups
Table 3: Economic independence of women in urban and non-urban areas

78
82
82
82
82

B. Education and training of women		
Figure 1: Number of students in higher education as a percentage of the
population ages 18-25 by sex. Source: Statistics Netherlands (CBS)
Figure 2: Tipping point for first-year university students 1999
Figure 3: Tipping point for total number of students 2006
Table 4: Participants in senior secondary vocational education, 2011/12

83
83
84
84
85

C. Women and Health		
Figure 4: Cardiovascular diseases disaggregated by gender

85
85

D. Violence against Women		
Table 5: Registered possible victims of human trafficking
Table 6: Complaints of aggression, violence and intimidation

86
86
86

E. Women and armed conflict		
Table 7: Breakdown of military personnel as of 1 January 2012
Table 8: Breakdown of military personnel as of 1 January 20131
Table 9: Breakdown of civilian personnel as of 1 January 20121
Table 10: Breakdown of civilian personnel as of 1 January 20131
Table 11: Trend in proportion of women by rank and scale groups1
Table 13: Total number of asylum decisions on asylum requests submitted
by women by type of decisions
Table 14: Total number of asylum decisions after asylum requests submitted
by men by type of decision
Table 15: Asylum decisions on asylum requests submitted by women from
Somalia by type of decision

87
87
87
87
88
88

6

89
89
90

Table 16: Asylum decisions on asylum requests submitted by women from
Syria by type of decision
Table 17: Asylum decisions on asylum requests submitted by women from
Iraq by type of decision
Table 18: Asylum decisions on asylum requests submitted by women from
Afghanistan by type of decision
Table 19: Asylum decisions on asylum requests submitted by women from
Iran by type of decision
Table 20: Asylum decisions on asylum requests submitted by women from
Eritrea by type of decision

90
91
91
92
92

F. Women and the Economy		
93
Figure 7: Gross labour participation of women (green line), men (red line) and total
(blue line)
93
Figure 8: Gross labour participation of women by age
93
Table 21: Labour participation (in %) of women with non-Western foreign
background
94
Table 22: Working hours of women per week, 2008 and 2012, by age group
94
Table 23: Use of childcare allowance (x 1000)
94
Table 24: Parental leave of women, rights and use of leave in 2008 to 2012
94
Table 25: Average annual income of men and women
95
G. Women in Power and Decision-making		
95
Table 26: Women in politics
95
Table 27: Number of women at the top (boards of management and supervisory 		
directors) of Dutch trade and industry
96
I. Human Rights of Women
Table 28: Assessments of the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights of
complaints about discrimination in the labour market based on sex,
by goods and services and mixed. Source Netherlands Institute
for Human Rights.

96

J. Women and the media
Figure 9: Proportion of women and men at different levels of decision-making in 		
media organisations
97
Figure 10: Proportion of women and men at different levels of decision-making in 		
private media organisations
97
Figure 11: Proportion of women and men at different levels of decision-making
in public media organisations
98
Figure 12: Proportion of women and men on the boards in media organisations
98
7

Section I. Major achievements and challenges
during 20 years of policy development for
gender equality

Major policy developments in the promotion of gender equality and the
empowerment of women since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and
Platform for Action and the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly.

Overview

Until 1956 in our country, women employed
by the government were dismissed as soon
as they married. Moral arguments were used
to justify this decision. The same practice
applied to teachers. The view was that if a
pregnant woman were to be permitted to
teach pupils, this might give rise to
questions among their pupils. The main
reason, however, ensued from the social
and economic system of the time, which
was centred on the term “breadwinner”. The
husband was responsible for obtaining an
income for his family, while the wife was
responsible for the home and children. If
women continued to earn money outside
the home after marrying, they would be
taking jobs that could otherwise be held by
men, who in turn had families to provide
for. Many did not regard the breadwinner
model as undesirable. It was even viewed as
a successful result of economic prosperity.
The inequality of men and women was also
established in matrimonial legislation:
from a legal point of view, the husband was
the head of the home. Married women were
legally incompetent until only 50 years ago.
Until 1984, the law also stipulated that the
opinion of the husband prevailed over that
of his wife about fundamental matters such
as where to live and decisions concerning
the family’s children. Thus, men and
women did not enjoy equal rights until this

In the fight for equal rights and the
empowerment of women, we have
managed to achieve an enormous amount
in a relatively short time. In the last 50 years
in the Netherlands, doors that had
previously been closed to women for many
centuries have started to open, one by one
– on the employment market, in the legal
system, at universities, in politics, on the
street and in the family.

Women demonstrating in favour of paid jobs in 1980
9

gender issues, but in the “mainstream”
nothing had really changed. Minister
Melkert wanted women’s emancipation to
be integrated into all important policy
dossiers in all the relevant ministries. He
started off with the process of “gender
mainstreaming”, first in his own
department. The paradigm of gender
mainstreaming was taken over by
subsequent governments in the
Netherlands. In 2007, it was decided that
the ambitions for gender equality and the
empowerment of women should be an
integrated responsibility of the Dutch
Cabinet as a whole. The role of the Gender
Minister (as the Minister of Education,
Culture and Science became known from
then on) was to serve as a coordinator and
supporter of strategies and gender aspects
and issues. To clarify the allocation of
responsibilities and the contribution made
by the different line ministries to
establishing gender equality, the Gender
Minister produced a letter to the
Parliament. It made the division of
responsibilities clearer, more transparent
and verifiable. The expertise on gender
issues among policy makers was increased
as well.

time. Since the 1950s, however, there has
been an increasing need among women to
be considered as equals. This resulted in the
advent of the women’s liberation
movement.
In 1956 the term “legal incapacity” as it was
applied to married women was deleted
from the law and female teachers and civil
servants were no longer obliged to resign
once they married. Since then, the basic
principles of equality and the equal
treatment of women and men have been
progressively anchored in international
legal documents and treaties and in
European and national legislation. The role
of women in all domains of social life –
politics, administration, science, culture,
the media, sports, etc., – has increased.
When the Beijing Declaration and Platform
for Action were adopted in 1995 at the
important meeting in Beijing, a change in
the paradigm was brought about for the
Dutch emancipation policy. The Beijing
Declaration accelerated progress in many
ways.
After Ad Melkert – the then Minister of
Social Affairs and Employment with an
appointed responsibility for Gender
Equality – returned from Beijing, he
immediately launched the memorandum
“Women’s Emancipation in Progress”. With
this memorandum, he sought to break the
trend in the emancipation policy. Up to
1995, his ministry had conducted a
considerable amount of data analysis on

Three major
achievements in
emancipation policy
After the important meeting in Beijing in 1995, the
Dutch emancipation policy developed and evolved
10

significantly. The major achievements since include
the implementation of a broad integrated approach
throughout the government; the focus of the
contribution of women to the economy and the
mainstreaming of a human rights approach
including emancipation of LGBT.

anchoring it in the ministries and social
organisations. In the most recent policy
paper on women’s emancipation
(Memorandum Outlining Points on
Women’s Emancipation/Hoofdlijnenbrief
Emancipatie 2013-2016), in which the Dutch
government sets out the main points of the
policy up to 2016, the ministries and social
organisations with which alliances have
been formed are listed. Where necessary or
preferred, the Minister reaches agreements
with the responsible ministries in order to
contribute to achieving specific objectives
for women’s emancipation. The progress of
the women’s emancipation policy is
monitored by the Gender Minister. In this
sense, she is generally responsible for
monitoring and assessing progress in the
area of women’s emancipation in the
Netherlands. Interministerial coordination
guarantees the involvement of the entire
political leadership and senior civil servants
in the international and national reports on
gender issues. A coordinating policy on
women’s emancipation is also created in
which responsibilities are established for
each ministry.

I. Integral approach towards gender
equality as the new policy paradigm
The integral approach towards gender
equality was taken over by subsequent
governments in the Netherlands, although
the specific ways of implementation varied
in time. In 2007, it was decided that the
ambitions for gender equality and the
empowerment of women should be an
integrated responsibility of the Dutch
Cabinet as a whole. The role of the Gender
Minister (as the Minister of Education,
Culture and Science became known from
then on) was to serve as a coordinator and
supporter of strategies and gender aspects
and issues. To clarify the allocation of
responsibilities and the contribution made
by the different line ministries to
establishing gender equality, the Gender
Minister produced a letter to the
Parliament. It made the division of
responsibilities clearer, more transparent
and verifiable. The expertise on gender
issues among policy makers was increased
as well.

II. Economic independence as a
central element of gender equality
and the empowerment of women
The economic independence of women has
been a central element in the Netherlands’
women’s emancipation policy for a long
time. When women are economically
self-reliant, then they are financially
independent from a partner or the transfer
of social insurance. This gives them greater

The role of de Gender Minister within the
Cabinet

The Gender Minister has an important role
to play in setting up the general framework
for women’s emancipation policy and
11

(ages 15 to 65) should be economically
self-reliant by 2010. In 2000 for the first
time, the norm for economic self-reliance
was recorded in a women’s emancipation
memo: the supplementary benefit level for
a single person (70% of the social minimum
= in 2013 approximately 900 euros a
month). Participation in the job market
among women rose rapidly, but many
women chose to work part-time in order to
be able to combine care duties and work
better. So labour participation did not
always lead to economic independence.
Although the position of women in the
labour market in the Netherlands over the
last five years has improved further, the
Dutch government sees the consequences
of the economic crisis as a clear reason to
place the theme of economic participation
high on the agenda.

freedom to make their own choices in life
and lessens the chance of them falling into
poverty.
The Dutch government wants all people in
the Netherlands to be able to participate in
our society and the economy as first-class
citizens. In policy such as the labour market
policy and in combating unemployment,
no distinction is made according to gender.
There is no goal-oriented policy to promote
female participation in the labour market or
female entrepreneurship. The government
assumes that the general policy will
sufficiently benefit women. Job and
information services and funding are also
equally accessible for women and men.
From 2000 to 2010, a cabinet objective for
economic independence was pursued:
according to this objective, 60% of women

12

clear agreements on day arrangements
(childcare, school times, office hours for
municipal services, etc.); on intake processes
for women; on going back to work and career
histories. The campaign also endeavours to
get the different parties to set up long-term
cooperation in the form of alliances. The
results of the campaign, including the degree
to which opinions on economic self-reliance
among citizens is changing, will be
monitored by the Gender Minister.

Due to the fact that many labour factors
proved difficult to influence, such as
fluctuations resulting from the economic
crisis, the current government cabinet has
abandoned the quantitative objective for
the economic self-reliance of women.
Economic participation is currently being
approached in a different manner, i.e., as a
political pursuit of the goal that “over the
course of time, women and men will be
equally self-reliant economically”. In this
pursuit, not only is the contribution of
employers and labour organisations a point
of focus, but also expressly the contribution
made by male partners to the economic
independence of women. The goal of the
policy for economic self-reliance is to create
awareness among men and women,
employees and entrepreneurs,
administrators and citizens concerning the
necessity of increasing the economic
self-reliance of women to such an extent
that action is taken. The policy seeks to
bring about a shift in the thinking on
economic self-reliance and, in the long
term, the equal economic independence of
both women and men.

III. Approach to human rights and the
inclusion of the emancipation of
lesbian women, gay men, bisexuals
and transgender people (LGBT) in the
emancipation policy
Since 2007, the Dutch “women’s policies”
and the policies on gay rights have been
merged in the new emancipation policy.
Alongside the emancipation and rights of
women, the emancipation and rights of
lesbian women, gay men, bisexuals and
transgender people (LGBT) are being
coordinated and supported throughout the
government by the Emancipation Minister.
Subjects that recur in relation to the
emancipation of women are economic and
social participation, combating violence
against women and the quality and
accessibility of health care. As regards LGBT
emancipation, equal rights for
heterosexuals and homosexuals, social
acceptance and combating violence against
LGBT people are subjects that have been on
the agenda of successive Dutch
governments.

National campaign on economic
independence of women
The Gender Minister recently launched a
national campaign in which the Minister
enters discussion with local governments,
employers, trade unions, educational
institutions and employment finders. Also,
at the local level the Minister has begun
discussing economic self-reliance with
women and men. The campaign is pursuing
13

hand, and LGBT people, on the other. Even
where this equality has been achieved in
theory, it is necessary to support its
implementation from day to day and this
requires policy interventions, even today.

The basis for this is the belief that women’s
rights and the rights of LGBT people are
inalienable human rights and that steps
must be taken to ensure that these rights
continue to be monitored and protected.
The emancipation of individuals provides a
good basis for the resolution of social
problems. As such, emancipation relates
not only to individuals, but also to society
as a whole.

Three persistent
challenges faced when
promoting gender
equality

There is a clear connection between the
development of the women’s emancipation
movement and the development of LGBT
emancipation. In a situation in which men
and women have equal rights, both are
equal in the eyes of the law. The same
applies for the equality before law of
heterosexual men and women, on the one

Despite the clear progress booked in the
emancipation of women and LGBT people, and
increasing gender equality, there are still persistent
challenges that call for continual attention. Among
these, we see as the most important challenges to
maintain visibility of the emancipation process in

14

society, the involvement of groups in society in
emancipation issues and negative stereotyping of
women and girls.

themselves, but also for society as a whole
because it helps to cover the costs of an
ageing population while it strengthens
participation in the labour market and
social cohesion. Because of the far-reaching
integration of the goals of gender equality
in other policy areas, the gender dimension
in the policy has become much less visible
and noticeable.

I. Making the gender dimension
recognisable in social issues
Emancipation is not a separate,
independent theme, but rather a theme that
cuts across nearly all social issues, such as
employment, culture, housing, social
cohesion, health, human rights and the
environment. So it is important for gender
mainstreaming that solutions are offered
for the social problems that this
emancipation dimension brings with it.
This dimension is no longer always
recognised as such by society. An example of
this is the fact that starting to work more
hours is not only good for the women

II. Social involvement in emancipation issues
Decades ago, the general population saw
women’s emancipation as a social
revolution. Today, the general view of
people has become much more abstract.
People sometimes forget that the process of
emancipation touches them personally.
During one of the focus groups that were

15

the area of culturally formed views.
Although the role of the woman in Dutch
society has undeniably changed in the last
two decades, there are still social views and
stereotypical thinking about the role of
women that have hardly evolved at all.
Negative, stereotypical views are still
common in areas such as the (social) media,
in which women are predominantly seen as
sex objects or in the role of mother or
loving wife. A good example of this are the
commercials of toy manufacturers, in which
boys are often shown as budding engineers
and managers, and girls are shown with a
baby doll or toy vacuum cleaner. Couples
with a newborn baby still often choose to
have the woman take on the largest role in
raising and caring for the child. As a
consequence, the woman often gives up a

held in preparation for the current
emancipation paper, a young Dutch
man commented: ‘I am a little tired of
hearing about the subject of women’s
emancipation. I have never known any
other world than one in which women have
the same rights.’ There is a hidden danger
here that, in the Netherlands, women’s
emancipation will be seen as a given that
needs no special awareness. But
emancipation always needs our attention
and always requires vigilance and concerted
effort. Keeping emancipation on the
agenda of citizens and politicians is and will
remain an important challenge.

III. Negative images and stereotypes
One of the most important challenges
facing the Dutch emancipation policy lies in

16

part of her economic independence, even
when she has a good education. These
examples show that women’s emancipation
calls for continual attention and effort in
order to maintain the ground already won.
Dutch culture is not yet entirely gender
sensitive. The emancipation policy of the
government can show people the benefits
of diversity and the participation of all
citizens and lend its support to these goals.
Changing people’s views and stereotypical
expectations calls for a sensitive approach
and patience.

S

17

Section II. Progress in the implementation
of the critical areas of concern in the
Platform for Action since 2009
Legal measures, national policies, strategy plans, obstacles,
challenges in each of the twelve critical areas of concern

A. Women and Poverty12
1 In the Beijing Declaration, poverty was
defined as a complex, multidimensional
problem that can come about in different
ways and have different consequences.
For example, the inability to provide
oneself with an income; hunger and
malnutrition; poor health or a physical or
mental handicap; limited access to
education and other services; the lack of a
safe or healthy living environment; social
discrimination and exclusion. Poverty is
often characterised by the lack of political
and social participation and poor access
to decision-making processes. In the
broad definition, poverty among women
is obviously strongly related to them
having no or poor access to decent work
and credit, land and other property.
According to Dutch standards, a risk of
poverty exists for people/households with
an income that is below the low-income
limit, especially if this situation persists
for the long term (longer than four years).
This limit, used by Statistics Netherlands,

reflects a fixed amount of purchasing
power over time.
2 The number of women running the risk
of falling into poverty fell in the
Netherlands from 873,000 in 2000 to
546,000 in 2010 (see Section III, Table 1).
The decrease between 2000 and 2010 was
primarily the result of the decrease in the
risk of long-term poverty during this
period in the two groups in which
women are strongly represented, i.e.
single-parent families and older single
people. In 2011 and 2012, the number of
women with a low income rose by over
100,000. The number of women with a
long-term low income, following ten
successive years of decrease, increased
again for the first time, i.e. from 157,000
in 2010 to 182,000 in 2012. The economic
situation in the Netherlands has played a
significant role in this increase since
2010; also evidenced by the rise in the
total number of people in households

Indicators developed by the EU:
A1.

At-risk-of-poverty rate by age and sex

A2.

At-risk-of-poverty rate by type of household and sex, including at-risk-of-poverty rate of
single parents with dependent children

A3a.

Inactivity by age and sex: proportion of women and men who are inactive by age1

A3b.

Inactivity by age and sex: proportion of inactive women and men who are not looking for
a job for family care reasons2

1 See Section III, Figure 8
2 See Section III,Table 22

19

mentary income provision for the elderly
(aanvullende inkomensvoorziening
ouderen - AIO). It is implemented by the
Social Insurance Bank (Sociale verzekeringsbank - SVB).

with a low income – from 1,037,000 to
1,329,000 in a period of two years.
3 The proportion of women with a chance
of falling into poverty in 2012, at 8.8%,
was higher than it was among men
(8.4%). A significant cause of this was the
fact that women, on average, worked
fewer hours than men. The overrepresentation of women in the population with
(long-term) low income manifests itself
the strongest in the age groups of 20-39
and 55-64 (see Section III, Table 2).

5 Divorce and poverty
On average, young women today attain a
better level of education than young
men. Despite this fact, women often give
up (some of ) their economic independence, relatively speaking, when they
start a family. This is seldom the case for
men. If a woman gives up her economic
independence when starting a family,
when she marries or enters into a
registered partnership, this may cause her
to become financially dependent on her
ex-partner if the relationship ends. In
certain circumstances, a woman may
even experience poverty after divorce or
become reliant on social benefits. For the
man, this can result in long-term
financial commitments in the form of
spousal maintenance, depending on his
ability to pay. Thus, the breadwinner
situation may give rise to these unintended consequences and possibly new
cases of poverty. Both men and women
are insufficiently aware of this when
opting for a traditional division of roles.
With this in mind, the Gender Minister
actually supports the gathering of data
and is initiating a social debate among
stakeholders and academics about the de
facto inequality that exists between men
and women where work and care are
concerned.

Combating poverty in the
Netherlands
4 The Dutch government pursues a poverty
policy that is first and foremost aimed at
making work more attractive (cf.
paragraph F, Women and the Economy).
Towards this end, for example, the
poverty trap for single parents (95 per
cent of whom are women) is being
tackled as a part of the simplification of
the child schemes. Work should be
remunerated, after all. The government
Cabinet has also made extra money
available for combating poverty. In 2013
this amounted to 20 million euros; in
2014, 80 million euros. Starting in 2015,
the budget will have a fixed amount of
100 million euros extra per year. The Work
and Welfare Act (Wet werk en bijstand WWB) provides a supplement to the
income of those elderly people with an
insufficient state old-age pension (AOW)
and no or too little other income. This
general supplementary benefit for people
aged 65 and older is called the supple20

International fight against poverty/
development cooperation

8 The portion of the Netherlands’s Official
Development Aid (ODA) budget which is
specifically reserved for the furthering of
women’s rights and opportunities stood
at 53 million euros in 2013. In addition,
the Netherlands is a staunch supporter
and partner of the UN funds and
programmes that have gender equality at
the heart of their mission. We partner
with and generously support the work of
UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women and others
to advance women’s rights, voices and
agency.

6 The Netherlands has consistently focused
on women’s empowerment and gender
equality in foreign policy, in line with the
Beijing Declaration and Platform for
Action. For development cooperation in
particular, the MDGs have served as a
guide since the start of the millennium.
7 With a view to strengthening women’s
rights, voices and agency in developing
countries, the Netherlands has launched
the world’s largest grant facility – the
MDG3 Fund – exclusively accessible to
autonomous women’s organisations. In
the period 2008-2012, 77 million euros
was channelled through 45 grant
recipients, eventually reaching (grassroots) women’s organisations in 99
countries. Preparations for a continuation of this facility after the expiry of the
MDG3 Fund started in 2011. Subsequently,
the Funding Leadership and
Opportunities for Women (FLOW) grant
facility, with a total budget of 85.5 million
euros, became operational in 2012.

21

B. Education and Training of Women
Indicators developed by the EU:
B1.

Proportion of female graduates and male graduates among all graduates in mathematics,
the sciences and technical disciplines (tertiary education)

B2.

Employment rate of women and men (aged between 25 and 39; and aged between 40 and
64) by highest level of education attained

B3a.

Proportion of female/male ISCED 5a-graduates out of all ISCED 5a-graduates and
proportion of female/male PhD graduates out of all PhD graduates by broad field of study
and in total

B3b.

Proportion of female and male academic staff differentiated by level of seniority and in total

Female graduates

sharply. The number of native Dutch boys
has increased slightly. At the higher levels
(MBO 3 and 4), girls outnumber boys
(Section III, Table 4).

Since 1995, girls have outnumbered boys in
pre-university education, more girls have
enrolled for university than boys since 1999,
and more girls than boys have been taking
part in academic education as a whole since
2006 (Section III, Figures 2 and 3). Boys are
held back in secondary education somewhat
more often than girls are, boys often
transfer to a lower level of education and
they are more likely to leave school before
completing their education. In vocational
and higher education, boys drop out more
often than girls do, and girls earn their
certificates quicker.

Higher/university education
As would be expected, following the growth
in Senior General Secondary Education
(HAVO)/pre-university education (VWO), the
number of students in higher education has
increased in recent decades: both men and
women earn a higher level of education
more often (Section III, Figure 1). The
number of first-year students has increased
in the last fifteen years by more than half, to
129 thousand in 2009/10. The percentage of
women passed the 50 per cent mark in that
period (since 96/97) and the proportion of
ethnic minority students rose relatively
rapidly. In both professional higher
education (HBO) and at the research
universities, female students now
outnumber male students. This corresponds
with the number of girls surpassing that of
boys in pre-university education (VWO). The
enrolment rates of girls and boys in both

Vocational education
More boys than girls are enrolled in
Intermediate Vocational Education (MBO).
The number of native Dutch female
students under 21 has fallen in recent years,
while the number of girls with non-Western
foreign family backgrounds in vocational
education has increased relatively sharply.
Also the number of boys with non-Western
foreign family backgrounds has increased
22

also a suitable instrument for women who
want to re-enter the workplace. The work
experience gained in the past can be
included in a recognition procedure, as can
the experience gained (in, say, voluntary
work or caregiving) during the period in
which they did not actively participate in the
labour market.

professional and academic higher education
are approximately 53% and 47%, respectively,
of the total number of students.

Female professors
The number and percentage of female
professors changes sharply from university
to university. Radboud University Nijmegen
has the highest percentage of female
professors at 20.6%. That is well above the
national average of 14.8%. The University of
Groningen and the University of Leiden
follow with 19.2% of female professors. The
universities of technology (Delft, Eindhoven
and Twente), featuring study programmes
that traditionally have attracted few women,
have relatively low percentages of female
professors.

The tax deductibility of training expenses has
been expanded and agreements have been
reached with social partners concerning the
co-financing of sectoral plans aimed at
retaining professional personnel, from-workto-work assistance and intersectoral training.
The last survey conducted by Statistics
Netherlands into the participation of
women between the ages of 15 and 64 in
post-initial education took place in 2009. At
the time, the participation of women was
16.2 per cent, a little higher than that of
men, at 14.9 per cent. This concerns all study
programmes, government-funded and
non-subsidised, work-related and nonwork-related. With regard to participation in
company training courses, female
employees lagged slightly behind male
employees (37 per cent versus 40 per cent) in
2010. Women participate more often in
courses and study programmes in education,
the humanities and the medical fields. In
contrast, men participate more often in
technological courses and programmes, the
exact sciences, and economic administration
courses and programmes.

Post-initial education
It is also important that employed people,
including working women, improve their
abilities to work. In the Netherlands, men
and women have equal access to post-initial
education and lifelong learning. The
government plays an important supportive
role in this. It does so by promoting the
recognition of prior experiential learning,
by disseminating best practices for
sustainable employability and by promoting
the training of private individuals via the
deductibility of training costs from Income
Tax. Recognition of prior experiential
learning helps people to secure knowledge
and (work) experience and to be certified. A
recognition of prior experiential learning
procedure leads to an Experience Certificate.
Recognition of prior experiential learning is
23

C. Women and Health
Indicators developed by the EU:
C1.

Healthy Life Years

C2.

Access to health care (unmet demand)

C3.

Cardiovascular diseases

Alliance of government and nongovernment organisations on
Women and Health

quality of life for men and women alike and
to costs savings as well.

Gender differences are also significant in
the health care sector. Yet often too little
consideration has been given to these
differences and their consequences. For
example, women live an average of four
years longer than men, but often have a low
quality of life in the last stage of their life.
Furthermore, although heart and vascular
diseases are regarded as diseases that affect
primarily men, the reality is that heart
failure is now the number one cause of
death for women (Section III, Figure 4). This
is partly because symptoms manifest
themselves differently in women than they
do in men and are not always recognised on
time. It has also been found that women
take more sick leave during their working
lives and sustain higher medical costs than
men. Existing data reveal more differences
that may have a major impact on the costs
of health care. Women’s organisations, the
health care sector and the scientific
community are all calling for more
“gender-sensitive” health care, with greater
consideration given to the differences
between the sexes. Gender-sensitive health
care may lead to an improvement in the

In consultation with the Ministry of Health,
Welfare and Sport and the Ministry of Social
Affairs and Employment, the Ministry of
Education, Culture and Science has
launched an alliance with front runners.
This alliance will explore what possibilities
there are to promote gender awareness in
the health care sector. Working with these
pioneers in the field of women’s health, the
government has committed itself to the
improvement of knowledge and awareness
among stakeholders (doctors, insurers,
companies and patients) with respect to the
usefulness of and the need for this type of
health care. It has also promised to take
steps to ensure that this is actually
developed. Efforts will tie in with other
innovative developments, such as the
National Prevention Programme, with
special attention given to healthy schools,
healthy companies and healthy aging.

Transgender people
The acceptance of transgender people in
society leaves much to be desired. For long,
transgender people have not been visible in
the policy on areas relevant to them. Since
24

Gender Identity Recognition Act (Wet
erkenning genderidentiteit)

2009, therefore, attention has been given to
transgender people in the emancipation
policy and active efforts are being made to
tackle bottlenecks that transgender people
run up against in the fields of work, care,
personal safety and legislation. The Dutch
government is also promoting a stronger
advocacy of the interests of transgender
people by transgender people and
encouraging the collection of data. At the
same time, programmes have been launched
in the areas of empowerment and jobtraining, providing information in education
and the organisation of sufficient, accessible
psychological and medical care. Transgender
health care is a highly specialised field that
requires specific expertise and a
multidisciplinary approach. The
concentration of certain care activities is
necessary to guarantee high-quality health
care. Parties in the field (organised interest
groups, health care providers and health
insurers) take each other’s roles and
responsibilities in the system into
consideration in setting up a good,
sustainable and cost-effective chain of care for
transgender people. The practitioners of
special medical care cannot keep up with the
rapidly increasing demand for their services.
However, due to extra resources, in part, they
have been able to catch up and reduce the
waiting lists in the recent period. With respect
to psychological care, the parties in the field
(organised interest groups, health care
providers and health insurers) are working on
improving the national and regional
provision of care. The situation of transgender
people will be monitored again in 2016.

The Gender Identity Recognition Act (Act of
18 December 2013, Stb.-2014-1) rescinds the
sterilisation requirement and the requirement of physical adaptation to the desired
biological sex as they pertain to the official
registration of biological sex from the Act.
Persons aged 16 or older can, henceforth, be
granted a change in the statement of their
sex on their birth certificate via a request
submitted to the registrar with the
submission of a statement from experts.
The Act shall take effect on 1 July 2014.

Insurance coverage of breast implants
The Netherlands Institute for Human Rights
has called on the treatment of secondary
sexual characteristics (including breast
implants) for transgender people to be
covered by health insurers. Transgender
people who undergo a sex change from
woman to man are given coverage for the
removal of their breasts, while transgender
people who undergo a sex change from
man to woman are not covered for breast
implants. This constitutes a form of unequal
treatment.
The Health Insurance Act
(Zorgverzekeringswet - Zvw) that applies in
the Netherlands is based on a standard
package of coverage that is the same for all
health insurance policyholders. All
policyholders can, therefore, appeal to the
same standard insurance package which
includes the same insured treatments. In
the standard coverage package, breast
implants are only covered for women after a
25

(full or partial) mastectomy. The right to
coverage for a breast implant is thus also
denied to all women that have no or hardly
any breasts. Insurance coverage of the
breast implants only for transgender
women (that are undergoing a transition
from man to woman) constitutes a privilege
given to them that is not given to other
policyholders for whom the coverage of
breast implants is not included in the
standard package of insured coverage in the
Health Insurance Act.

26

D. Violence against Women
Indicators developed by the EU:
D1.

Domestic violence against women: profile of female victims of violence

D2.

Domestic violence against women: profile of male perpetrators

D3.

Victim support

D4.

Domestic violence against women: measures addressing the male perpetrator in order to
end the circle of violence

D5.

Domestic violence against women: training of professionals

D6.

Domestic violence against women: state measures to eliminate domestic violence against
women

D7.

Domestic violence against women: evaluation

D8.

The number of employees who report incidents of sexual harassment in the workplace, as
a percentage of the total workforce

D9.

The number of private and public enterprises which have a preventive policy regarding
sexual harassment in the workplace, as a percentage of the total number of employers

D10.

The number of private and public enterprises which have procedures for sanctions in place
for perpetrators of sexual harassment in the workplace, as a percentage of the total
number of employers

Government-wide policy addressing
violence against women

1 strengthening the position of (potential)
victims (prevention, identification,
refuge/shelter, help and aftercare);
2 an approach specifically targeting the
perpetrators;
3 breaking the cycle of the intergenerational transfer of violence. This concerns all
forms of violence in the domestic
environment, such as child abuse,
partner violence, sexual violence, the
abuse of the elderly, female genital
mutilation and honour-related violence,
and forced marriage (see I. Human Rights
of Women).

In view of the extent and seriousness of all
forms of violence against women, a forceful
approach to tackling the problem is still
necessary and much more attention needs
to be given to the policy pursued with
respect to violence against women. The
current government-wide approach is being
coordinated by the Ministry of Public
Health, Welfare and Sport in collaboration
with the Ministry of Security and Justice, the
Ministry of Education, Culture and Science
and the Ministry of Social Affairs and
Employment. The adopted approach is
based on three mainstays:
27

Gender sensitivity of policies

partners. The implementation of the policy
is more gender-sensitive, but this is
insufficiently guaranteed. A sex-neutral
formulation and a gender-sensitive
approach are not mutually exclusive
according to this study. The conclusions and
recommendations of the gender scan
provide good starting points for a better
guarantee of a gender-sensitive approach to
tackling domestic violence. The
recommendations will be discussed in the
coming period with local governments, the
work field and the NGOs involved. Based on
these discussions, it will be ascertained
what actions are necessary to improve
policy and its implementation with respect
to gender sensitivity.

The government-wide approach focuses on
prevention, identification, stopping,
providing help and aftercare. The spearhead
of the approach is to strengthen the
management role of local governments.
The goal is to create a future, enduring
system to combat domestic violence at the
local and regional levels for all victims,
irrespective of age, sex, sexual orientation
or ethnic background. The Dutch policy is
focused, therefore, on all victims and all
forms of domestic violence. The Dutch
approach to tackling domestic violence has
therefore been formulated to be
sex-neutral.
Gender-related factors however, play a key
role in the occurrence and perpetuation of
domestic violence. Any strategy that aims to
tackle domestic violence will therefore have
to take gender-related factors into account
in order to be effective. In part due to a
recommendation issued by the CEDAW
Committee, the Government Cabinet had a
study conducted into the manner in which
the policy gives consideration to the
different sociocultural roles of men and
women and the power differences that
ensue from these roles. This so-called
gender scan was completed in January 2014.
It has been concluded that in policy no
explicit effort is being made with respect to
gender sensitivity. There seems to be
resistance to acknowledging the relevance
of gender-related factors and there is still
too little knowledge concerning the role
gender plays in violence between domestic

Figures on domestic violence
In 2010, a study into the nature and extent
of domestic violence was published.3 This
study excludes the number of victims of
forced marriages, abandonment abroad and
honour-related violence, the numbers for
which are unknown. Approximately
220,000 adults fall victim to serious,
persistent domestic violence each year,
while approximately 1 million adults fall
victim to incidental domestic violence. It is
estimated that 119,000 children are victims
of abuse annually. In nearly 75 per cent of
the cases of obvious domestic violence
3

28

Veen, H.C.J. van der, Bogaerts, S. (2010),
Domestic violence in the Netherlands.
Comprehensive summary report of the capture/
recapture, victim/perpetrator study of 2007-2010.
The Hague: WODC.

among adults, it involves physical violence
(65%) and sexual violence (8%). More women
are victims than men. Although the
proportion of male victims is higher than
was thought up to now, there are still more
female victims (60%) than male victims
(40%). Men make up the vast majority of
suspected perpetrators of domestic violence
(83% men - 17% women). More than
two-thirds of obvious domestic violence is
committed by partners or ex-partners and
primarily involves physical violence and
stalking. Women fall victim to violence that
is committed by their (ex) partner more often
than men do. Men fall victim more often to
violence that is committed by a brother or
another person in the domestic
environment. A recent study conducted
among police forces confirms this picture. Of
the more than 95,000 incidents registered by
the police in 2012, three in four of the victims
were women between the ages of 25 and 45,
and the victims were usually (67%) the (ex)
partner of the alleged perpetrator.

focused on child abuse, the implementation
of the Action Plan for Combating Child
Abuse called “Children Safe” 2012 – 2016
started in January 2012. Children are
especially vulnerable in relation to their
parental figures and carers and are less able
to defend themselves than adults. The
measures from the action plan are focused
on preventing, identifying and stopping
child abuse, and on limiting the damage
caused by providing adequate treatment.
Guaranteeing the physical safety of children
and tackling sexual abuse are also a central
point of focus in this Action Plan. A Child
Abuse and Sexual Violence Task Force has
been set up to monitor the implementation
of the Action Plan, to promote activities and
to ensure that combating child abuse is and
remains high on the agenda of all parties
involved. Combating child abuse and
providing assistance to the victims have
become the express responsibility of local
governments. Each municipality is required
to set up a counselling and reporting desk
for domestic violence and child abuse that,
as the name suggests, provides advice to
bystanders and professionals and conducts
investigations into suspected child abuse
and domestic violence. In the law that
regulates the decentralisation of youth
assistance, quality guarantees will be
included that are also important for tackling
child abuse.

Figures on child abuse
It is estimated that 119,000 children are the
victims of abuse each year.4 Specifically
4

Alink, L., IJzendoorn, R. van, BakermansKranenburg, M., Pannebakker, F., Vogels, T., Euser,
S. (August 2011), Kindermishandeling in
Nederland anno 2010. De Tweede Nationale
Prevalentiestudie Mishandeling van Kinderen en
Jeugdigen (NPM-2010) [Child abuse in the
Netherlands anno 2010. The Second National
Prevalence Study on the Abuse of Children and
Youth], Leiden attachment research program &
TNO child health, Leiden: Casimir Publishers.

Female genital mutilation
The practice of female genital mutilation
has been criminalised for some years now in
the Netherlands by a special law. Parents
29

of himself and four other ministers,
concerning the manner in which the
Cabinet wishes to strengthen the chain
approach to forced marriages. In the letter,
actions are announced to strengthen the
approach to tackling forced marriages and
abandonment abroad in the areas of
identification, reporting and better, faster
assistance and especially more immediate
action in complex cases of women being
left behind in foreign countries
(abandonment abroad). The House of
Representatives was informed about the
prevention of forced marriages in July 2012
in respect of a plan of approach for 2012
– 2014 that focuses on preventing people
from becoming victims of forced marriages.
The primary lines of approach are that
awareness needs to be raised within the
communities themselves and that
promoting expertise among professionals
working with young people is essential.
Twelve projects are linked to these main
points, including making taboo subjects
discussable within families and a multimedia campaign “Als niemand iets weet” (If
no-one knows) aimed at young people
between the ages of 14 and 25; the group
that is at risk of being married off. An
e-learning module has also been developed
for professionals in social work, in youth
care and in health care. On 1 July 2013, the
Act for broadening the criminal prosecution
of forced marriages, polygamy and female
genital mutilation took effect. This law will
expand the possibilities for criminal
prosecution. The civil-law bill “Combating
Forced Marriages” (“Tegengaan

risk imprisonment, also when the
treatment is executed by a foreign
practitioner during a “holiday” outside the
country. The government further fosters the
debate on F.G.M. among ethnic minority
and migrant groups.

Tackling the pimping of young girls
On the instruction of the Ministry of
Security and Justice, the film «De mooiste
chick van het web» (The Prettiest Chick on
the Web) was developed. The goal of this
film is to point out the risks of social media
to children, parents, friends and teachers.
This film can be viewed at www.
mediawijzer.net. Codename Future
developed a teaching pack around this film
on the instruction of the Ministry that
schools can use to actively address this
subject. The target group is pupils in the
first two years of secondary schools. The
schools were informed about the teaching
packs in September 2013. During the first
week, 45 schools registered for this
initiative.

Forced marriage
The right to self-determination, to make
one’s own choices concerning one’s life, is a
fundamental human right. Phenomena
such as forced marriage, marital
imprisonment, abandonment abroad and
honour-related violence are a consequence
of the failure to recognise a person’s right to
self-determination and are serious forms of
violence. On 6 June 2013, the Minister of
Social Affairs and Employment sent a letter
to the House of Representatives, on behalf
30

including domestic violence, honourrelated violence and child abuse. The goal is
to strengthen the policy approach to
tackling domestic violence as pursued in
municipal governments, among other ways,
through the establishment of region visions
(regional policy plans) by these local
governments. In these visions, the
municipal policy with respect to child abuse
and domestic violence is described. As a
result, the cohesion at the local level will be
reinforced.

Huwelijksdwang”) is intended to further curb
forced marriages.

Central role of local governments
In the Netherlands, local governments play
a crucial role in the approach taken to
combat violence against women. In 2009,
the national government made the “model
approach to domestic violence: elements
for local policy” available to local
governments. This model approach is
meant as a helping hand for local
governments when setting up, organising
and expanding policy aimed at preventing
and combating domestic violence. The
Social Support Act (Wet maatschappelijke
ondersteuning - Wmo) stipulates that
municipal governments are responsible for
providing refuge, assistance and policy.
Also, in the bill on Youth (expected to
become law on 1 January 2015), combating
child abuse and providing assistance to the
victims of child abuse will become the
explicit responsibility of local governments.

Starting 1 January 2015, local governments
become responsible for the organisation of
a Counselling and Reporting Desk for
Domestic Violence and Child Abuse
(Advies- en Meldpunt Huiselijk geweld en
Kindermishandeling - AMHK). The current
support points for domestic violence and
the counselling and reporting desks for
child abuse are being merged. To facilitate
this, the Social Support Act is being
amended. In April 2013, a support
programme was launched that is being
implemented under the guidance of the
Association of Netherlands Municipalities.

In the context of strengthening the role of
municipalities the project “Tackling
Domestic Violence” (“Aanpak geweld in
huiselijke kring”) is being carried out.
Running up to the end of 2014, this project
is primarily being carried out by the
Association of Netherlands Municipalities
(Vereniging van Nederlandse Gemeenten
- VNG) and the Shelter Federation (Federatie
Opvang), with the involvement of other
parties such as the MOgroep, GGDNederland and Jeugdzorg Nederland. The
project is aimed at all forms of violence,

Training of professionals
On 1 July 2013, the Mandatory Code for
Reporting Domestic Violence and Child
Abuse Act (Wet verplichte meldcode
huiselijk geweld en kindermishandeling)
took effect. This Act requires organisations
in different sectors, such as health care and
youth assistance, to have a stepwise plan for
dealing with signs of domestic violence and
child abuse (Section III, Table 6).
31

Abuse of the elderly

Organisations are also required to promote
knowledge about and use of the reporting
code. In point of fact, this pertains to a
training requirement, also with regard to
training focused on recognising the signs of
domestic violence and child abuse and how
to handle incidences of domestic violence.
To ensure this, a plan has been drafted that
is aimed at the programmes that educate
students for a profession in (one of ) the
sectors covered by the Reporting Code Act.
The plan runs through to the end of 2015.
The aim of this plan is to anchor attention
for domestic violence permanently in study
programmes The responsibility for training
the professionals rests with the
organisations where the professionals
work. Due to the importance of training,
the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport
(VWS) supports organisations in this effort.
VWS has had basic training on “Working
with a reporting code” and e-learning
modules developed for the different
professional groups. The inspectorates
ensure that professionals in the sectors
covered by the Mandatory Code for
Reporting Domestic Violence and Child
Abuse Act are trained.

The Action Plan “The Elderly in Safe Hands”,
which is being implemented by the Ministry
of Health, Welfare and Sport together with
the Ministry of Security and Justice for the
purpose of combating the abuse of the
elderly, will run from March 2011 through to
the end of 2014. The Action Plan consists of
ten actions that focus on: prevention,
identification, stopping, helping and
aftercare. Several examples of these
activities are an e-learning module “The
Elderly in Safe Hands” for professionals and
assistance for volunteers to combat the
abuse of the elderly. An information
campaign is also underway run by the senior
citizens’ association and, in September
2013, the project “preventing financial
extortion” was launched.

Specific approach to perpetrators
The Ministry of Security and Justice has
committed itself in several ways to adopting
a specific approach to perpetrators. A firm
approach to perpetrators is an approach in
which standards are set (domestic violence
is not tolerated and therefore sanctioned), a
specific effort is made to change behaviour
(to prevent relapse, the perpetrator should
possibly be obligated to undergo
behavioural or care intervention) and the
child’s welfare takes priority.
Since the previous Beijing report for the
Beijing Platform for Action, various laws
have come into effect that contribute to a
stricter approach to the perpetrators of
domestic violence. These include the
aforementioned Temporary Domestic

The government maintains a special website
with information on domestic for
professionals and others violence (www.
huiselijkgeweld.nl), including a databank with
effective interventions in the area of
domestic violence since 2011. The site is
visited frequently (more than 331,000 times
in 2013).

32

Other examples of measures taken are the
quality programme of domestic violence
support points (to improve the quality and
to make the work method of support points
uniform), the implementation of the plan
of improvement in women’s shelters (to
establish suitable, fast and effective
assistance to women in women’s shelters
based on the women’s own strengths) and
the public campaign “Enough is enough”
(Nu is het genoeg, completed at the end of
2011). The Orange House method has been
developed, which works to break the spiral
of violence in the family. The Orange House
provides a safe accommodation in an open
women’s shelter facility; operating under
the motto “not a secret, but completely
safe!”.

Exclusion Order Act (Wet tijdelijk
huisverbod) that took effect on 1 January
2009. The administrative domestic
exclusion order is an instrument that has
proved to be of great value in tackling
domestic violence. On 1 April 2012, the
Conditional Sanctions Act (wet
voorwaardelijke sancties) took effect. This
law promotes the imposition of special
conditions. In a criminal law context, work
can also be done to achieve a change in
behaviour. In addition, on 1 July 2013 the
aforementioned Act for broadening the
criminal prosecution of forced marriages
(wet tot verruiming van de strafrechtelijke
aanpak van huwelijksdwang) took effect.
The Temporary Domestic Exclusion Order
Act (Wet tijdelijk huisverbod) that took
effect in 2009, has been an enormous boost
to getting the chain cooperation up and
running. The Act makes it possible to ban
the perpetrator of domestic violence from
the home temporarily, so that the victim
can continue to live at his or her residence.
The implementation of this law falls under
the responsibility of the mayor. In the four
years since the law took effect, 11,692
domestic exclusion orders have been issued
in the Netherlands. A recently conducted
evaluation of its effects has shown that,
following a domestic exclusion order, new
domestic violence is more often unlikely to
reoccur than it is in similar situations in
which no domestic exclusion order is
issued.

The investigation and prosecution of cases
of domestic violence can count on the
continual attention of the police and the
Public Prosecutor. Via the programme
called Reinforcing Achievements in the
Criminal Justice System (Versterking
Prestaties Strafrechtketen) of the Ministry of
Security and Justice, a broad effort is being
made to minimise the undesirable outflow
of cases through the conclusion of litigation
agreements between the Public Prosecutor’s
Office and the police, to reinforce
knowledge and expertise among intake
employees, to improve the quality of police
reports and official records, and to
inventory the quality of assistant public
prosecutors.

33

In three Security Headquarters5 in 2012,
pilot projects were also conducted with the
objective of establishing a sharper approach
to tackling repeat offenders and
perpetrators of so-called “intimate
terrorism”. These pilot projects proved to be
a success due to the good collaboration
between chain partners, the screening of
the cases, the subsequent joint increase of
information and the resultant rapid and
effective response. In view of this result, a
look is being taken into how the approach
can be disseminated and guaranteed.

published in December 2013.6 The recidivist
monitor offers the possibility of keeping an
eye on recidivism figures and, if necessary,
adapting the approach taken to the repeat
offender.
In the criminal context, efforts are being
made to change the behaviour of the
perpetrators of domestic violence. The
“B-safer” is a diagnostic instrument
targeting cases in which domestic violence
occurs. This screening instrument is now
being used nation-wide by rehabilitation
agencies. In addition, since January 2013,
rehabilitation agencies have been
conducting a test in a number of regions
that involves training in partner-related
violence. It is aimed at bringing about a
de-escalation of the violence in the
relationship as quickly as possible.

The Scientific Research and Documentation
Centre of the Ministry of Security and Justice
has included “domestic violence” in the
recidivist monitor. The recidivist monitor
contains information about the population
of prosecuted perpetrators of domestic
violence, the record of repeat offences,
background characteristics and the
connection between recidivism and the
development of habitual criminal offences
through the years. The initial results were

5

Preventing and stopping the intergenerational transfer of violence
Prevention and increasing the sexual
resilience of young people helps to bring a
halt to the intergenerational transfer of
violent behaviour. If patterns of violent
behaviour are not adopted by future
generations, then domestic violence can be
reduced in the long run.
The Cabinet is having a study conducted
into national and international
interventions that can make a contribution
to preventing the intergenerational transfer
of violence. Particular attention is given to

A Security Headquarters is a network collaboration that connects partners from the criminal
justice system, the health care chain, municipal
partners and administration in their approach to
complex problems. The objective of the
collaboration is to reduce trouble, domestic
violence and criminality. The chain partners
identify problems, come up with solutions and
implement them together. Work processes are
coordinated so that criminal law and health care
complement one another. Efforts are made to
effect behavioural change, reduce repeat offences
and improve the quality of the delinquent’s life.

6

34

Second Chamber, Session year 2013 – 2014, 33
750, XVI, no. 80

partners and ambassadors. The WE CAN
Young-campaign provides young people the
chance to come up with and implement
their own campaigns in which they can
work on their own awareness of and
resistance to unwanted sexual advances and
violence and can also inspire others. They
learn how to deal with conflicts and
relationships.

interventions in the areas of emancipation
and child-rearing support. As a part of this,
special attention will be given to the
positive role that men can play. The results
of the study are expected in the spring of
2015.

Changing unwanted stereotypes and
strengthening resilience of women
and girls

The Ministry of OCW and the Ministry of
VWS are also jointly promoting a youthoriented approach to increase sexual
resilience among young people through
social media. Among other things, a “sexual
resilience tool” has been developed for
social media that gives young people insight
into their resilience profile and provides
individual advice.

Significant causes of domestic and sexual
violence can be found in the inequality and
power differences between men and
women, and in stereotypical views about
the respective roles of men and women. The
solutions must be sought in a healthy and
equal relationship between men and
women. That is why a number of specific
campaigns and measures are aimed at
promoting the awareness of the causes of
violence against women and at increasing
young people’s ability to know and say what
they want and don’t want in relationships
and sexual relations (i.e. their sense of
relational and sexual resilience).

Tackling of human trafficking
Human trafficking takes on different forms.
It can involve sexual exploitation,
exploitation in other sectors or human
trafficking with the aim of organ removal.
As a result of their (emotional) dependence
on the human trafficker, many victims are
not capable or are too afraid to report and
prosecute the trafficking and, if they do,
they are dependent on others to do so.
Women and men often become prey to
human trafficking for different reasons. The
proportion of male victims reported to
CoMensha has risen in recent years. Even so,
more than 80% of the victims are female.
Sixty-nine per cent of the female victims
and 29% of the male victims come from the
sex industry (Figures on 2001-2011, report by

An example of this is the WE CAN Youngcampaign (WE CAN end all violence against
women). The national government has
reached agreements with 15 large
municipalities. In these cities there is now a
We Can Young project underway. The
thinking behind WE CAN is that, if many
people and organisations join, it will create
a critical mass that can bring about a change
in attitude with respect to women. In order
to achieve this, the WE CAN campaign is
working with “change makers”, coalition
35

the NRM, Mensenhandel in en uit beeld/
Human Trafficking, visible and invisible).
Human trafficking is therefore a genderspecific phenomenon.
The chance of a person becoming a victim is
influenced by role patterns, sexual culture
and other differences in power relations
between men and women (both in the
Netherlands and in the different countries
of origin). So it is vitally important to
strengthen the position of (potential)
victims through information,
empowerment and providing safe refuge/
shelter and support measures.

Figures from the National Rapporteur of
Trafficking in Human Beings (Nationaal
Rapporteur Mensenhandel)7 show that the
largest number of human trafficking cases
(Section III, Table 5) were registered with
the Public Prosecutor’s Office in 2012 since
2000 (no fewer than 311). The same applies
to the number of human trafficking cases
concluded by the Public Prosecutor’s Office
(338 cases). The proportion of summons
issued for human trafficking within the
total number of human trafficking cases
concluded by the Public Prosecutor’s Office
remained approximately the same in the

The tackling of human trafficking is a
priority of this Government. One of the
objectives is to double the number of
criminal operations prosecuted in the
period running from 2009 through to the
end of 2014. At this moment, an
interministerial project group is working on
a proposal for a National Referral
Mechanism for the victims of human
trafficking. The goal of the referral
mechanism, among other things, is to
reinforce the connection between the
health care chain and the criminal justice
system and to provide the victims of human
trafficking more made-to-measure services.
At the beginning of 2014, the second term
of the Tackling Human Trafficking Task
Force came to an end. The Task Force
recently decided to advise the Minister of
Security and Justice to extend the
establishment of the Task Force by a third
term. For the work in the third term, the
Task Force will draft an agenda.

The National Rapporteur publishes several
reports a year on human trafficking, many of
which are also translated into English.
- Her most recent report is the Negende
Rapportage Mensenhandel (the Ninth Report on
Trafficking in Human Beings) of September 2013.
On the BNRM-website there is an Englishlanguage fact sheet available on this report (see
http://www.dutchrapporteur.nl/reports/ninth/); a
full translation will follow.
- In April 2012 “Mensenhandel in en uit beeld:
Cijfers vervolging en berechting 2008-2012”/
(Human Trafficking Visible and Invisible: Figures
for prosecution and trials 2008-2012) was
published, with figures on the prosecution and
trying of human traffickers. This report is not
available in English.
- In December 2012, “Mensenhandel in en uit beeld
(2012). Cijfermatige rapportage 2007-2011”
(“Trafficking in Human Beings: Visible and
Invisible. A quantitative report 2007-2011”). This
report is available in English (see http://www.
dutchrapporteur.nl/reports/
trafficking-visible-invisible/).
- The 6th (2008), 7th (2009) and 8th (2010) reports
are all available in English (http://www.
dutchrapporteur.nl/reports/).
7

36

2008-2012 period (an average of 70%,
varying between 65% in 2009 and 73% in
2010). In line with the previous
development, the court in the first instance
settled the most human trafficking cases in
2012 (153). The proportion of sentences
passed down for human trafficking – which
fell in the 2004-2009 period by 25% increased sharply again in both 2010 and
2012 (to 71%).

human trafficking, whose victims came
from Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania. In
many of these investigations they worked
with the authorities in the countries of
origin. The collaboration with Bulgaria
involved four Joint Investigation Teams.
Early 2013, the National Office of the Public
Prosecutor signed a Memorandum of
Understanding with the Romanian public
prosecutor in order to emphasise the
structural nature of their collaboration. The
Dutch and Hungarian police signed a
bilateral operational action plan in the
summer of 2013 that links to the action plan
of the EMPACT-project in human trafficking.
The respective police corps of Hungary,
Austria and the Netherlands have also
received an EU subsidy in order to intensify
their operational collaboration. The
information and results that the
collaboration with these countries has
produced will be shared with EMPACT, so
that unexpected connections with other
member states can be identified. Close
collaboration with Nigeria, too, has been
underway for a number of years. The
collaboration with countries of origin is not
limited to investigating criminal activity.
Hungary, Belgium and the Netherlands have
successfully applied for an EU subsidy to
fund a Transnational Referral Mechanism to
allow Hungarian victims to return safely to
Hungary from the Netherlands and Belgium
if they wish to do so.

In the context of the EU, the tackling of
human trafficking is a priority. In June 2013,
the EU Ministers of Justice and Internal
Affairs again regarded human trafficking as
one of the EU’s priorities in the area of
tackling organised crime. An operational
action plan has been drafted for each of
these priorities that will be carried out by a
group of member states through a so-called
EMPACT-project8. The United Kingdom is
the so-called “driver” and the Netherlands
the “co-driver” of the human trafficking
project, in which 25 member states are
participating, in addition to organisations
such as Europol, Eurojust and Frontex.
The Dutch criminal investigation services
work intensively with the most prominent
countries from which the victims originate
in order to share knowledge and
experience, and to provide training and
investigate human trafficking. In 2011 and
2012, for example, they launched
approximately 50 investigations into

Legislation on human trafficking
8

Since the previous Beijing Report of the
Netherlands, the sentences for human

European Multidisciplinary Platform against
Crime Threats.

37

the legal embedding of the National
rapporteur on trafficking in human
beings in a National rapporteur on
trafficking in human beings and sexual
violence against children Act.

trafficking have increased twice: once as of 1
July 2009 and again as of 1 April 2013. On 1
April 2013, the maximum sentence for the
predicate offence of trafficking in human
beings was raised from a term of
imprisonment of no more than 8 years to a
maximum of 12 years. The maximum
penalty of 12 years imprisonment in cases of
serious bodily injury or endangering life was
raised to 18 years. The maximum penalty of
15 years imprisonment in cases of death was
raised to 30 years or life imprisonment. On
15 November 2013, legislation
implementing the EU anti-trafficking
directive took effect. This entailed a few,
mainly technical amendments of the
criminal code:
- two new elements were added to the
definition of exploitation in Article 273f,
paragraph 2, i.e. the paragraph that
includes forced or compulsory labour or
provision of services – namely “begging”
and “exploitation of criminal activities”;
- the requirement of double criminality for
trafficking in human beings committed
abroad by Dutch nationals or foreign
nationals permanently residing in the
Netherlands against victims over the age
of 18 has been abandoned (the requirement was already no longer effective for
victims under 18); and
- the ground of aggravating circumstance
in Article 273f, paragraph 3, sub-section 2
has been extended to human trafficking
committed against a person under
eighteen years of age or against another
person whose vulnerable position has
been abused. The bill further comprises

“Appearances are Deceiving”
campaign
The successful campaign “Appearances are
Deceiving” (Schijn bedriegt-campagne),
amongst others, is aimed at people who
visit prostitutes that can recognise the signs
of human trafficking. In the period running
from June 2012 to May 2013, this campaign
produced 76 per cent more reports on
human trafficking to Report a Crime
Anonymously (Meld Misdaad Anoniem), a
telephone line on which citizens can
provide information on crimes while
remaining anonymous. Noteworthy was the
increase in possible minor-aged victims: 1 in
4 reports of human trafficking pertained to
this group. In 2011, this concerned only 1 in
8 of the reports. The “Appearances are
Deceiving” campaign will be continued in
2014 and 2015.

Shelter for victims of human
trafficking
In 2010 a two-year “pilot project for special
shelters for victims of human trafficking”
was launched. The pilot project – which was
set up by the State Secretary for Justice and
the State Secretary for Health, Welfare and
Sport – provides shelter to foreign victims
and assistance from aid workers who have
special knowledge of this group of victims.
The victims are given rest, safety and
38

Guidelines for first-line identification
of victims

assistance as needed. The shelter initially
had room for 40 female victims and 10 male
victims, including any children they might
have. It appears that a majority of the victims
file a report of human trafficking (about
90%). Since its launch, this shelter has
become permanent and the number of safe
places has been increased from 50 to 70.
Psychosocial diagnostics will be introduced
at some point to ensure that victims receive
tailor-made care and assistance, even after
they leave the shelter. Some victims stay in
the shelter facility for a relatively long time,
due to a lack of follow-up shelters and
regular housing. In order to ensure that
more independent housing is available when
victims are ready to move on, municipalities
have been given the obligation to provide
them with housing. The first victims have
now been provided with this housing. For
the victims of labour exploitation who do
not need urgent care, the NGO Comensha
has been given a budget to organise
temporary shelter, at least during the
investigation period.

The Netherlands has participated in a
project for the development of common
guidelines and procedures for the
identification of victims of human
trafficking. The project was led by France
and was financed through an EU subsidy.
The Netherlands supported this project
financially and also made expertise
available. The six participating countries –
Greece, Bulgaria, Spain, Romania, France
and the Netherlands – formulated
guidelines for the identification of victims
of trafficking based on best practices and
developed training material to teach
professionals how to use the guidelines.
Participants from 10 different organisations
in the Netherlands, both government
organisations and NGOs, took part in a
train-the-trainer course in June of 2013.
They, in turn, will provide training to their
colleagues in the field on how to use the
guidelines. The Ministry of Security and
Justice has asked the Dutch Centre for Crime
Prevention and Safety (CCV) to monitor and
promote the use of the guidelines by the
relevant organisations and to organise
additional train-the-trainer sessions when
necessary.

Figures on the number of (possible)
victims of human trafficking
In the Netherlands, in cases with the barest
indication of human trafficking, the
possible victims are always reported to and
registered by the NGO Comensha. The
figures below therefore concern not only
persons for whom it is established at a later
stage that they are trapped by human
trafficking, but also persons that, in the
end, appear not to be victims or whose
victimhood cannot be demonstrated.

Residence scheme for victims of
human trafficking
On 1 June 2013, the Modern Migration Policy
Act (Wet Modern Migratiebeleid) took
effect. This had consequences for the
chapter arrangement of the Ministerial
Circular concerning Foreigners 2000
39

Since 2011, the IND has also been able to
grant a victim of human trafficking a
residence permit if the victim demonstrates
that he cannot or will not make a report of a
crime or otherwise cannot or will not
cooperate in the criminal investigation and
prosecution of the human trafficker due to:
- a serious threat; and/or
- a medical or psychological constraint.
The IND considers the following as evidence
which proves that a victim of human
trafficking cannot or will not report a crime
or cannot or will not cooperate in the
criminal investigation and prosecution of
the human trafficker due to a serious threat
and/or a medical or psychological
constraint:
a statement from the police to the effect
that the foreigner is the victim of human
trafficking; and
b if this applies: a statement from the police
to the effect that the foreigner cannot be
expected to cooperate in the criminal
proceedings due to serious threats in the
Netherlands by the human trafficker; or
c if this applies: medical information that
shows that a physical or psychological
disorder prohibits cooperation in the
criminal proceedings. The medical
information must come from a practitioner that is registered either in the register
of Professions in Individual Health Care
(Beroepen in de Individuele
Gezondheidszorg) or in the register of the
Netherlands Institute of Psychologists
(Nederlands Instituut van Psychologen).

(Vreemdelingcirculaire 2000). The residence
scheme for victims of human trafficking,
which was previously called the B9-scheme,
is now recorded in Chapter B8/3 of the
Ministerial Circular concerning Foreigners.
The residence scheme is as follows:
Should there be the barest indication of
human trafficking, the police will offer the
victim time to think. The Immigration and
Naturalisation Service (IND) will then grant
a delay of departure. The time given to think
lasts a maximum of three months. During
this three-month time to think, the support
given to victims of human trafficking is
always unconditional (i.e. without the
possible victim being required to
cooperate). After the time to think has
passed, the foreigner involved is asked to
cooperate with the criminal investigation
for a residence permit and support (shelter,
etc.). The residence permit is granted for a
term of one year, but can be renewed. If the
case culminates in a sentence for the
perpetrator, then the victim is always, in
principle, eligible for continued residence.
If the criminal proceedings are still
underway after three years, an application
for continued residence is, in principle,
always granted. If the criminal proceedings
are dismissed within three years, then the
victim can also apply for a residence permit
on humanitarian grounds (continued
residence). This scheme is also available to
EU citizens, as well as to foreigners that are
not victims, but who are witnesses and
officially testify to the fact (report).

40

Act for regulating prostitution and
combating abuse in the sex industry
(Wet regulering prostitutie en
bestrijding misstanden seksbranche
- WRP)

In follow-up to the recommendation of the
5th CEDAW report to open the residence
scheme for victims of human trafficking
also to victims that cannot cooperate in the
criminal proceedings, the CEDAW
committee adapted the policy framework
on this point in 2011. The adaptation has
since been brought to the attention of
different bodies involved on a regular basis.
This permit can be granted (on
humanitarian grounds) without a
temporary permit having to be granted first,
for which cooperation with the police is a
condition. Victims that have cooperated
with the police and, based on this, have
been granted a temporary residence permit
can also be granted a residence permit on
humanitarian grounds if their case is
dismissed. This permit is granted if a return
to their country of origin is not desired.
Through a project of the Dutch NGO
FAIRWORK, the personnel in detention
centres have been made more aware of the
possible presence of victims of human
trafficking in detention centres. An active
effort is being made to identify them and
victims are then referred on to this NGO. In
cooperation with the International
Organisation for Migration (IOM),
FAIRWORK has launched a new project to
increase the knowledge and identification
skills of detention centre personnel during
detention and to continue to advise and
support detention centre personnel from a
distance.

In its concluding observations of 31
February 2010, the Committee called on the
Netherlands to provide more
comprehensive and concrete information in
its next periodic report on the measures
taken to improve the working conditions of
prostitutes and to enhance their autonomy,
privacy and safety. In November 2009, a
legislative bill9 was submitted to the House
of Representatives that, among other
things, provided for the mandatory
registration of all prostitutes in order to
gain greater insight into and control over
the industry. The Senate had an objection to
a general registration requirement for
prostitutes and adopted a resolution to
petition the Minister of Security and Justice
to drop the element of the registration
requirement in the Act for regulating
prostitution and combating abuse in the sex
industry.
The Act for regulating prostitution and
combating abuse in the sex industry will
provide for a national, uniform licensing
system for all sex businesses in the
Netherlands. The necessity of this licensing

9

41

Kamerstukken 32 211 (Parliamentary Documents
32 211) Wet regulering prostitutie en bestrijding
misstanden seksbranche, Wrp (Act for regulating
prostitution and combating abuse in the sex
industry)

tackles one source of abuse. Moreover, the
licensing system will improve the working
conditions of prostitutes and will enhance
their autonomy and safety due to the fact
that the measures the owners of sex
businesses take to protect the health, safety
and right to self-determination of the
prostitutes are screened before the licence
is issued. Amongst other things, these
measures must include:
- the availability of enough condoms;
- the possibility to be tested for STDs on a
regular basis;
- no obligatory medical examinations;
- the freedom to choose one’s own doctor;
- the freedom to refuse sexual acts.
The owner or operator of the sex business is
required to supply the prostitute with the
above-mentioned information in a
language the prostitute understands. In
addition to the uniform licensing system, a
register of all escort licences and all
withdrawn/rejected and suspended licences
will be introduced by the WRP. This will
enable an easier control of legal and illegal
businesses by the police and other agencies
responsible for regulation.

system is endorsed by all parties. The
current situation, with local and regional
differences, is undesirable and results in the
flight of sex businesses to those regions
with fewer (and less strict) rules. With the
national uniform licensing system, each
commercial operation of prostitution in
each municipality will become subject to a
variety of licensing obligations. The
minimum conditions with which the sex
businesses must comply in order to receive
a licence will be uniform in every
municipality. This will ensure that sex
businesses cannot move to other
municipalities with less strict licensing
rules. A few of the rules with which sex
businesses must comply in order to receive
and/or keep a licence are:
- The owner and operator of a sex business
must be older than 21;
- The owner and operator must not have
ever been convicted of violence, a sex
crime or of human trafficking;
- The owner of a prostitution business is
required to maintain a business plan
which describes the actions the owner
takes regarding:
- hygiene;
- the protection of the health, safety and
right to self-determination of the
prostitutes;
- the protection of the health of the clients;
- the prevention of criminal acts.

Empowerment of prostitutes
The Ministry of Security and Justice and the
Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment
have subsidised an organisation for the past
two years to research the needs of
prostitutes, ways to detect and combat
abuse, and the possibility of setting up a
self-help organisation or pressure group.
Prostitutes can access information in many
ways concerning work-related health issues,

The licensing system will regulate the
situation and conduct within the sector. Any
operator who fails to abide by the rules will
no longer be able to run a sex business. This
42

support for the victims of abuse, their rights
and obligations as independent workers or
employees, and support should they wish to
leave the sector, etc. Organisations visit
prostitutes at work to provide counselling
and information. Moreover, cities such as
Utrecht, Amsterdam and The Hague have
specific centres where prostitutes can go for
information and support. Furthermore,
throughout the Netherlands there are
several programmes that provide help for
prostitutes who want to stop working in the
sex sector. The website www.
prostitutiegoedgeregeld.nl provides
information in many different languages for
prostitutes working in the Netherlands.
Improving the position of prostitutes in the
Netherlands is one of the topics on which
municipalities and the ministries work
together as a part of a national programme.

43

E. Women and Armed Conflict
Indicators developed by the EU:
E1.

Proportion (number and percentage) of men and women trained specifically in the subject
of gender equality among: diplomatic staff, and civilian and military defence staff employed
by the EU Member States and Community institutions; and staff participating in UN
peacekeeping operations (PKOs) and ESDP missions, including military and police staff10.

E2.

Proportion (number and percentage) of women and men among: heads of diplomatic
missions and EC delegations; staff participating in UN peacekeeping operations and ESDP
missions, including military and police staff.

E3.

Funding (as a total amount and as a percentage of cooperation programmes) allocated by
the EU Member States and the European Commission in countries affected by armed
conflict or in post-conflict situations in order to support gender equality – broken down,
where possible, to reflect funding to support: female victims of violence; and the
participation of women in peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction. Indicator E3a.
Proportion of funding for these programmes allocated to NGOs working for gender
equality and women’s empowerment.

E4.

Proportion (number and percentage) and country of origin of female and male asylum
seekers who have obtained the status of refugee, or who benefit from subsidiary protection.

Proportion of men and women
among diplomatic staff, and civilian
and military defence staff10

given to three closely related features,
namely
1 talent development;
2 retention of female managers and talents
and;
3 goal-oriented outflow, in which space is
created for talent (intake) and sitting
female ABD directors (promotion).
The Ministry of Education, Culture and
Science (OCW), the Ministry of the Interior
and Kingdom Relations (BZK) and the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (BZ) have signed
the “Talent to the Top” Charter. The charter
is a public commitment and a code with
clear agreements for the realisation of
male-female diversity at the top.

The Senior Civil Service (De Algemene
Bestuursdienst – ABD) consists of the
approximately 550 senior civil servants of
the Dutch Government. Since 2007, the
percentage of women in the ABD has risen
from 18% to 27% in 2013. The goal of the
Cabinet is for at least 30% of the ABD to
consist of women by 2017. On 18 November
2013, the Minister for Housing and Public
Service (Wonen en Rijksdienst) sent a plan
of approach to the House of Representatives
which sets out how this objective can be
realised. In this plan, special attention is

With respect to the gender balance at the
Dutch Ministry of Defence, a positive trend

10 No specific data available

44

has been visible in recent years. Although
the proportion of women is still much
lower than the proportion of men, in all
ranks and scale groups it is cautiously rising
(Section III, Tables 7 up to and including 12).

Asylum Procedure. This can be the case, for
instance, if it is concluded that the applicant
is not able to give a clear explanation during
the hearing or if a hearing cannot be given
in the short term for other reasons.

Asylum applications and female
asylum seekers (Section III, Tables 13
up to and including 20)

Providing satisfactory housing
throughout the asylum procedure
The rejection of an application for asylum,
in principle, means that the applicant loses
his legal residence in the Netherlands. This
means that he or she must leave the
Netherlands within four weeks and, after
this term has expired, no longer has any
right to facilities. If the application is
denied in the Extended Asylum Procedure,
lodging an appeal results in the decision to
deny being deferred. In this case, the
applicant retains his or her legal residence
and therefore also the right to shelter. In
the case of applications that are denied in
the General Asylum Procedure, this is not
the case. In those cases, the applicant can
submit a petition to the court for
provisional relief (temporary permit). If this
petition is granted, then the appeal is given
suspensive effect and the applicant retains
his right to shelter.

The Netherlands has no separate procedures
for vulnerable groups (such as
unaccompanied women and children) to
apply for asylum. A period of eight days
applies in the General Asylum Procedure,
which in principle pertains to everyone. If it
appears likely that it will not be possible to
come to a decision in a careful manner
within these eight days, then the applicant
can be referred to the Extended Asylum
Procedure. The Netherlands’ asylum
procedure provides a rest and preparation
period of at least six days, which is observed
before the General Asylum Procedure
begins. During this period, the asylum
applicant has the opportunity to settle
down and prepare himself or herself for this
procedure. No questions about the motives
for applying for asylum are asked yet during
this period. For its part, the Immigration
and Naturalisation Service (Immigratie en
Naturalisatiedienst - IND) assesses during
this period whether or not the applicant, in
view of his or her individual situation, is in
need of special procedural guarantees. Such
a situation may lead to the application not
being completed within the eight days of
the General Asylum Procedure and the
applicant being referred to the Extended

Domestic violence and regarding
gender-related prosecution as
grounds for asylum
1 In the Netherlands’ asylum policy, the
grounds for prosecution are interpreted in
accordance with the EU Directive 2011/95
(Qualification Directive). In the
Netherlands’ policy, it is also recorded that
an asylum application must be assessed
45

case if the experienced discrimination
produces such a serious restriction to the
woman’s possibilities to exist that it is not
possible for her to function in society or
socially.

with special attention given to “gender”.
This concept stands for the social sense of
masculinity and femininity.
2 Under asylum as practised in the
Netherlands, a woman can be designated
as a refugee if, in the country of her
origin, she would be persecuted in the
sense of the Convention relating to the
Status of Refugees:
a for a violation by the woman of
sex-discriminatory social customs,
religious regulations or cultural norms
for women;
b for a violation by the woman of penal
provisions that contravene universal
human rights.
Furthermore, the risk of genital mutilation
can also lead to international protection.
Cases of domestic violence involve acts of
violence that are not committed by
authorities. It must therefore be
investigated whether the victim is being
persecuted by third parties and whether the
victim can rely on the authorities in the
country of origin for protection. It
constitutes a case of persecution under
refugee law if the violence is prompted by
one of the persecution grounds named in
the Convention relating to the Status of
Refugees and if the authorities are not
willing or able to offer the victim
protection. If the woman in question
appeals to a case of discrimination, it will
always be assessed whether the
discrimination can be considered as
persecution in the sense of the Convention
relating to the Status of Refugees. This is the

6. Illegal refugees that are the victim of
domestic violence or honour-related
violence can be granted refuge and
protection and can be eligible for a
residence permit. During the period of the
application for the permit, they have the
right to shelter and a temporary social
benefit from the Ministry of Security and
Justice. They can only submit an application
from a women’s shelter organisation.
Placement in the shelter is an indication
that a threat of violence is present and that
protection is necessary. The Immigration
and Naturalisation Service (IND) assesses,
based on a report of domestic violence
made to the police and on a medical
statement, whether there is a good reason
to permit residence on the grounds of
domestic violence. The permit (temporary
humanitarian permit) is granted for one
year. With a residence permit, it is possible
for victims to live independently, provided
their safety permits. After a year, it is
assessed whether the threat on which the
residence permit was based still exists. In
that case, a continued residence is granted
for an indefinite period.
If it concerns a victim of honour-related
violence, then the IND always asks for
advice from the LECC (the national expertise
centre for honour-related violence run by
the police). Based on a positive
46

recommendation, a decision is then taken
to grant a residence permit for one year. If
the threat of honour-related violence still
exists after a year, then continued residence
for an indefinite period is possible.
If a foreigner lives in the Netherlands with a
partner and if he/she has a residence permit
that is dependent on the partner, then a
specific policy applies to cases in which
violence occurs in the relationship. If the
relationship is ended due to domestic
violence or the threat of honour-related
violence, then an independent legal
residency can be granted. With this
residency, the person in question can be
eligible for a social benefit and housing so
that he/she can extract himself/herself from
the violent situation and build up an
independent existence in the Netherlands.

2012-2015) was launched, in which the
Dutch government and social organisations
cooperate. In the NAP, funds are made
available for women’s organisations in the
area of “political participation & female
leadership” in a number of developing
countries and regions.
In 2007, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
the Ministry of Defence launched the first
Dutch National Action Plan for the
implementation of UNSC resolution 1325
(the NAP1325). The second Dutch National
Action Plan (NAP) on United Nations
Security Council Resolution 1325 (2012-2015)
was signed on 19 December 2011 by 44
stakeholders, including the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, the
Ministry of Education, Culture and Science,
four research institutes, and 37 other civil
society organisations. In the last quarter of
2013, a midterm review was carried out on
the joint activities undertaken by the NAP
1325 signatories between October 2012 and
October 2013 to assess their collaboration,
to identify obstacles and to formulate
recommendations on the way forward.

Implementation of Resolution 1325
Succession to MDG3 Fund

After the success of the MDG3 fund, the
Netherlands is again investing € 80 million
euros in Funding Leadership and
Opportunities for Women (FLOW). Via
FLOW, the Netherlands supports the work of
thousands of women’s organisations
worldwide in the battle to combat violence
against women and to promote political
participation and economic independence.
At the same time, the international
women’s movement is strengthened.

The review showed that signatories have
worked together on many occasions to
ensure equal participation by men and
women at all levels of decision-making
(objective one). The collaboration between
the signatories took various forms, such as
between the ministries and NGOs, or
between a larger NGO and women’s and/or
diaspora organisations. The signatories’
joint initiatives focused, among other

Action Plan 1325

On 19 December 2011, the second
Netherlands Action Plan 1325 (NAP;
47

involved awareness-raising within
international institutions to draw attention
to the issue of women, peace and conflict.
This ranged from the organisation of
seminars and panel discussions to the
integration of a gender perspective in
military exercises, and the launch of a
Summer School programme. Among other
things, these activities focused on
integrating a “masculinity perspective” into
the UNSCR 1325 agenda; on encouraging
collaboration among CSOs, ministries and
knowledge institutes in other countries
following the Dutch example; and on
calling attention to the additional
protection needs of female human rights
defenders, as well as to the importance of
the gender dimension in transition
processes. Some of these projects were
quite innovative and enabled signatories to
reach a new and wide audience.
Signatories clearly recognise the added
value of country group cooperation
(objective four). Every signatory possesses
unique experience, knowledge, expertise
and resources that contribute to the
implementation of UNSCR 1325. Linking
and learning from these experiences,
capacities and resources enhance
effectiveness and efficiency. A need is felt,
particularly by the smaller and diaspora
organisations, for a more equal
participation within the country groups.

things, on strengthening the capacity of
national governments to guarantee
women’s rights under national law and to
produce gender-just legislation; on
ensuring that gender aspects are taken into
account in transitional justice phases; on
increasing the skills and knowledge of men
and women to enable them to act effectively
as leaders and peace builders; and on
acknowledging the different needs of men
and women by integrating a masculinity
perspective in UNSCR 1325 projects. On a
local level, new multi-stakeholder
partnerships are beginning to appear in the
sense that several Dutch, international and
local organisations are collaborating to
implement NAP projects in order to
promote female leadership and a greater
involvement of women in peace processes.
Furthermore, all signatories are
mainstreaming UNSCR 1325 within their
own organisation (objective two). Some
signatories have integrated UNSCR 1325 in
their vision and mission statement, while
others have integrated gender and/or
women’s rights in many or all of their
project activities. Signatories’ joint
initiatives have further contributed to
increased awareness in the Netherlands for
UNSCR 1325 and within international
institutions (objective three). Activities have
included the organisation of events and
debates, active lobbying at government
level, and the development of shadow
reports for the UN on the Dutch
implementation of UNSCR 1325. Most of the
joint projects and independent projects

Projects in the NAP 1325

The implementation of the NAP 1325 is
clearly progressing. A great number of
projects have been approved and are now in
48

the implementation phase. In the
Netherlands, strong political support has
been built and almost all organisations are
working to increase both internal and
external support for NAP 1325. At the same
time, there is room for improvement,
particularly regarding the collaboration
within country groups. There is also a need
for better information-sharing and the
sharing of lessons learned to increase
cross-fertilisation, and a need for the
increased involvement of diaspora
organisations. These observations have
resulted in a number of recommendations
being made to the Dutch Government and
the NAP 1325 signatories.

49

F. Women and the Economy
Indicators developed by the EU:
F1.

Employed men and women on parental leave (paid and unpaid) within the meaning of
Directive 96/34/EC on the framework agreement between the social partners on parental
leave, as a proportion of all employed parents

F2.

Allocation of parental leave between employed women and men as a proportion of all
parental leave

F3.

Children cared for (other than by the family) as a proportion of all children of the same age
group: before entry into the non-compulsory pre-school system (during the day); in the
non-compulsory or equivalent pre-school system (outside pre-school hours); in compulsory primary education (outside school hours)

F4.

Comprehensive and integrated policies, particularly employment policies, aimed at
promoting a balance between work and family life for both men and women (including,
for example, a description of available childcare facilities, parental leave and flexible
working time arrangements, of services offered by companies for their employees and of
flexible office/business hours for public services such as local authority offices, post
offices, crèches, and shops)

F5.

Dependent elderly men and women (unable to look after themselves on a daily basis) over
75: living in specialised institutions; who have help (other than the family) at home; looked
after by the family; as a proportion of men and women over 75.

F6.

Total “tied-down” time per day for each employed parent living with a partner, having one
or more children under 12 or a dependent: paid working time; travelling time; basic time
spent on domestic work; other time devoted to the family (upbringing and care of children
and the care of dependent adults).

F7.

Total “tied-down” time per day for each employed parent living alone, having one or more
children under 12 or a dependent: paid working time; travelling time; basic time spent on
domestic work; other time devoted to the family (upbringing and care of children and the
care of dependent adults).

F8.

Ratio for all employees

F9.

Ratio for the total sum of wages

F10.

Ratio for part-time work

F11.

Ratio by age and education

F12.

Segregation in the labour market

F13.

Ratio according to personal characteristics

F14.

Breakdown of the hourly wage gap between men and women using the Oaxaca technique

F15.

Measures to promote equal pay and combat the gender pay gap

50

F16.

Influence of collective bargaining on the promotion of equal pay and the elimination of the
gender pay gap

F17.

Effect of part-time work, parental leave, time-credit systems and career breaks on the
gender pay gap

Legal framework against discrimination by sex

context of the risk-inventory and
evaluation, the risks of PSA and to establish
and implement measures. The employer is
also required to give employees information
and instruction about the risks of PSA and
about these measures. If the employer has
no policy or has an insufficient policy, then
this constitutes a violation of the law and
the Inspectorate SZW (Ministry of Social
Affairs and Employment) can impose a fine
on the employer.

The Equal Treatment of Men and Women
Act (Wet gelijke behandeling van mannen
en vrouwen) and the General Equal
Treatment Act (Algemene wet gelijke
behandeling) both prohibit discrimination
based on a person’s sex. These laws also
state that this prohibition prohibits sexual
intimidation as well. Based on both laws, a
person that thinks that an instance of
prohibited discrimination has occurred can
supply facts that could suggest an instance
of discrimination, after which the other
party must prove that a violation of the law
has not occurred. In addition, acting
contrary to the laws governing equal
treatment can constitute an illegal act
(based on the civil code).

The Netherlands has promoted the system
for the protection and promotion of human
rights, including the fight against
discrimination, by taking concrete
measures. The effort of the Government is
focused not only on improving the
framework for equal treatment before the
law, thus streamlining, harmonising and
making legislation more accessible; it also
stresses the importance of diversity in
society and in the labour market. The
Netherlands Institute for Human Rights
(College voor de Rechten van de Mens)
assesses cases of sexual intimidation that
arise and are reported in the Netherlands. In
2012, 212 rulings were issued, 44 (21%) of
which pertained to and were based on a
person’s sex. In 63% of all cases (38 cases) in
which the Institute established that
prohibited discrimination had occurred

Article 1, first paragraph, under e of the
Working Conditions Act (Arbeidsomstandighedenwet) also contains a definition of
psychosocial stress at work (psychosociale
arbeidsbelasting – PSA). Sexual intimidation
also falls under PSA. Based on Article 3,
second paragraph, an employer should have
a policy in place to prevent psychosocial
stress at work and, if this is not possible, to
limit it. The Working Conditions Decree
(Arbeidsomstandighedenbesluit) places the
obligation on the employer to assess, in the
51

The average gross labour participation11 of
women has increased further. In 2008, the
gross labour participation of women was at
a level of 62.1 per cent. This increased to
65.4 per cent in 2013. The gross labour
participation of men decreased, measured
over the same period, from 79.7 to 78.7 per
cent of the active male working population.
The difference in labour participation
between women and men fell in this period
from 17.6 to 13.3 per cent12.

based on a person’s sex, the assessment was
complied with (Section III, Table 28).

Parental leave
The total number of people entitled to
parental leave remained virtually the same
in the years 2008-2012. There was a decrease
in the number of men who were entitled to
parental leave (from 138,000 in 2008 to
129,000 in 2012), while the number of
qualifying women increased (from 119,000
in 2008 to 132,000 in 2012).

The gross labour participation of women is
highest in the age group of 25-34 years
(Section III, Figure 8). Between 2008 and
2013, the gross labour participation of
women in the age group of 25-34 fell slightly
from 82.1 to 81.7 per cent. The gross labour
participation generally decreases the older
the age group, but the growth of the gross
labour participation between 2008 and 2013
actually increased the older the age group.
The increase of the labour participation of
the age groups of 35-44, 45-54 and 55-64 was
2.6, 4.7 and 12.6 per cent, respectively. In
the lowest age group (15-24), the labour
participation in this period decreased by 1.1
percentage points.

Labour participation of women and
men
The Dutch government wants all people in
the Netherlands, as full citizens, to be able
to participate in our society and in the
economy. In government policy, for
instance the labour market policy, and in
the struggle against unemployment, no
distinction is made between the sexes.
There is no goal-oriented policy to promote
the participation of women in the labour
market or to promote entrepreneurship
among women. The government assumes
that the general policy followed will
sufficiently benefit women in these areas.
Labour and information services and
funding are equally accessible to women
and men.

Gross labour participation: The proportion of the
(working and unemployed) working-age
population (15 to 65 years in age) in the potential
working population.
12
CBS press release, “Labour participaton fell in
2013” (“Arbeidsparticipatie in 2013 gedaald”), 14
February 2014 (http://www.cbs.nl/NR/rdonlyres/
ABD617D4-1C2F-4193-81F3-F053BB4DF950/0/
pb14n011.pdf).
11

The position of women in the labour
market in the Netherlands has improved
further in the last five years (Section III,
Figure 7).

52

The net labour participation13 of women
increased slightly from 59.2% in 2008 to
59.9% in 2013. The labour participation of
mothers with young children (0 – 12 years)
increased from 69.4% to 71.5%. The net
labour participation of fathers is high. The
labour participation of fathers with young
children was 93.2% in 2012. The net labour
participation of men fell between 2008 and
2013 from 77.1% to 72.3%.

independent women increased from 45.8
per cent in 2007 to 47.6 per cent in 2009 and
47.8 per cent in 2011. The difference in
economic independence between men and
women fell by 4.6 per cent in the period of
2007 to 2011. The economic independence
of women is higher in the middle age
groups and lower in the lower and higher
age groups.
Never before has the starting position of the
young generation of women in the
Netherlands been so good. Women
outnumber men among young university
graduates (43% and 37%, respectively).
Eighty-four per cent of these women
(excluding students) have a job. For the first
time, it is no longer “a given” that the
mothers will work for a shorter time and the
fathers will not, because both partners
often earn the same. As long as there are no
children, women and men are equally often
economically independent. The young
women of today attach great importance to
being autonomous and independent. Still,
we see that the differences continue to exist
when children come into the picture.
Among mothers of young children
currently, only 63% are economically
independent, compared with 90% of the
fathers of these children. In addition to
family formation, the education level is a
determining factor when deciding to give
up one’s economic independence. Women
with a university degree are nearly just as
often economically independent as male
university graduates: 74% and 83%,
respectively. Women and men with an

Economic independence of women
and men
In absolute terms, the income difference
between men and women has remained
roughly the same (Section III, Table 25). The
average income of women increased from
15,000 euros in 2005 to 19,400 euros in 2010
and to 19,800 euros in 2011 (provisional
figure). The average income of men also
increased from 35,400 to 40,000 euros in
2010 and 2011 (provisional figure). In 2007,
57.9 per cent of the population in the age
group 15 to 65 were economically
independent14. In 2009, this percentage
increased to 58.4 per cent. For 2011, a
limited decrease was registered at 57.6 per
cent. This runs parallel with increased
unemployment among men and women
during the same period. Seventy per cent of
men were economically independent in
2007, 69.1 per cent in 2009 and 67.4 per cent
in 2011. The percentage of economically
Net labour participation: The employed labour
force, i.e. working population, (15 to 65) as a
proportion of the potential working population.
14
Among persons 15-64 years old.
13

53

Table 21) . Also among women from a
Western foreign background, the
percentage of those who were economically
independent increased from 45.9 per cent
in 2007, and 45.8 per cent in 2009 to 46.1
per cent in 2011. Among women from a
non-Western foreign background, the
percentage of those who were economically
independent was 32.1 per cent in 2007, 32.8
per cent in 2009 and 31.9 per cent in 2011.
The economic independence of a group
corresponds with its labour participation.
Women with a non-Western foreign
background seem to have been hit harder
by the economic crisis than women from
native Dutch and Western foreign
backgrounds.

intermediate level of education have an
“average” score when it comes to being
economically independent: 53% and 74%,
respectively. The percentage of women and
men with a low level of education who are
economically independent is alarming: 28%
and 66%, respectively.
The one-and-a-half income household
model has replaced the breadwinner’s
model as the standard situation for a
two-parent family. This usually manifests
itself in a situation in which the man is the
“main breadwinner” and the woman “earns
a bit on the side”. In the Outline
Memorandum, this situation is seen as a
problem, among other reasons, due to the
fact that one in three marriages fail and the
financially dependent partner often is then
forced to apply for social benefits. Studies
and experience have shown that women
tend to refrain from explicitly factoring in
such a worst-case-scenario and therefore
invest little in their future once they start to
work part-time. A temporary choice to work
fewer hours often turns out to have
permanent consequences. Women start to
work fewer hours when children arrive on
the scene. Women regaining their economic
independence once the children grow up
happens much less often in the Netherlands
than in other countries.

For native Dutch women, the nominal
annual income rose from 15,400 euros in
2005 to 20,100 euros in 2010. The average
income of Western immigrant women is
structurally higher than that of native Dutch
women. This income, too, rose from 16,200
euros to 20,300 euros. For non-Western
immigrant women, the average income was
the lowest in the period between 2005 and
2010. It rose from 10,700 euros to 13,900
euros. The income difference between men
and women among people from nonWestern foreign backgrounds is smaller
than it is among native Dutch people. It
should be noted here that the average
income of men with non-Western foreign
backgrounds is relatively low in comparison
with the average income of native Dutch
men. The percentage of women from a
native Dutch background who are

Among women from a native Dutch
background, the percentage of those who
were economically independent rose from
47.6 per cent in 2007 and 49.9 per cent in
2009 to 50.5 per cent in 2011 (Section III,
54

economically independent is higher than
that of women from a foreign background.
Although economic independence has
increased among women from a native
Dutch background and women from a
Western foreign background, it has
decreased slightly among women from a
non-Western foreign background.

recommendations pertained to possibilities
for sound daytime arrangements, more
flexible working hours and the
implementation of a (regional) office hours
policy, i.e. the coordination of the office
hours for a wide range of social services
with the reality that today often both
partners in a family work. For the
Netherlands, it is also important that the
task of ensuring the ease of combining work
and family care is not solely the
responsibility of government, but also (and
particularly) the responsibility of employers
and employees sitting around the
negotiating table for the Collective Labour
Agreement and on the work floor. They
would benefit from the recommendations
to improve the combination of work and
family care for women and men.

In urban areas there is greater economic
independence than there is in non-urban
areas. In most areas, economic
independence rose sharply between 2007
and 2011 (by more than 2 per cent, on
average). An exception to this trend was
seen in the highly urbanised areas, where a
small decline could be observed. The
difference between the non-urban areas and
the highly urbanised areas in this respect
has more than halved.

Unemployment among women and
men

To move women towards (part-time) jobs
with more hours, the DeeltijdPlus (Parttime Plus) Task Force was founded at the
start of 2008. Its aim was to initiate a
cultural change in the Netherlands, so that
it becomes more common for women to
work in part-time jobs with more hours or
in full-time jobs. The DeeltijdPlus Task
Force and the SER15 have issued
recommendations in recent years to the
Dutch government, companies and other
institutions concerning the possibilities for
combining work and family care more
efficiently. The most important
15

Overall, unemployment in the Netherlands
rose from 3.8% in 2008 to 8.3% in 2013.
Among both men and women,
unemployment rose over this period, but
the growth in unemployment was a little
higher among men than it was among
women. On the other hand, more women
than men are unemployed. Among women,
unemployment rose from 4.7% in 2008 to
8.4% in 2013. The larger increase among
men is the result of the fact that
employment for men is more sensitive to
cyclical trends than is the case for women:
in a growing labour market (as seen in the
years 2005-2007), men benefit earlier than
do women, while during a recession

SER (2011) Times adhered to by Society (Tijden
van de samenleving).

55

certification to be earned. A part of the
resources will also be spent on a so-called
job placement bonus. Agents (including
employment agencies) can receive a bonus
for helping to find jobs for an unemployed
senior citizen. The Cabinet intends to
improve the labour market position of
people 55 and older through the
introduction of mobility bonuses for elderly
people who are entitled to social benefits.
This makes it more attractive financially for
employers to hire unemployed senior
citizens (who receive social benefits). The
Cabinet will also intensify the reintegration
of people 55 and older by means of network
groups. UWV data show that 30% of senior
citizens who have participated in the
network training have found work within
six months after the training; without the
network training, the percentage is only 5%.
The Cabinet also wants to bring older
unemployed people and employers with job
vacancies into direct contact with one
another on so-called inspiration days. This
direct contact is much appreciated by both
sides. Unemployed senior citizens learn
about handy tips, gain insight into the
labour market and attend job application
workshops as a result.

unemployment among men increases more
than it does among women, so that it
comes closer to the – generally higher –
level of unemployment among women.
Employment in sectors in which,
traditionally, many women work has been
less affected by the economic crisis.
Examples of this are the health care sector
and education.
Measures taken to improve the
opportunities for the elderly and young
people also benefit women, as evidenced
from the increase in labour participation
among women aged 55-65. An example of
this is the policy aimed at promoting the
labour participation of senior citizens and
combating unemployment among youth.
Towards this end, the Cabinet made €102
million available on 19 December 2012 in
consultation with social partners for a
two-year scheme aimed at helping
unemployed people 55 and older and young
people find work. An amount of €67 million
was earmarked for activities aimed at
unemployed senior citizens; the other €35
million went to combating unemployment
among young people.
The Government Cabinet will temporarily
reintroduce the reintegration budget under
the Unemployment Insurance Act
(Werkloosheidswet – WW). With this
budget, the Uitvoeringsinstituut
Werknemersverzekeringen (UWV –
government agency implementing
employees’ insurance) can, for example, pay
for the necessary retraining or for

Parental leave
The total number of people entitled to
parental leave remained virtually the same
in the 2008-2012 period. There was a
decrease in the number of men who were
entitled to parental leave (from 138,000 in
2008 to 129,000 in 2012), while the number
of women entitled to parental leave
56

to this request, in so far as this can
reasonably be required.

increased from 119,000 in 2008 to 132,000
in 2012. Table 24 in Section III shows how
many women have been entitled to parental
leave in recent years and how they have
made use of this.

Pregnancy discrimination
Pregnancy discrimination is still a common
problem in the Netherlands. Research
conducted by the Netherlands Institute for
Human Rights (College voor de Rechten van
de Mens - CRM) in 2012 showed that more
than 45% of working women have had
negative experiences with pregnancy in
relation to work that possibly involved
discrimination. The word “possibly” is used
because it cannot be ascertained whether
there was a case of discrimination in the
legal sense. The number of questions and
the number of judgements on this subject
have risen in recent years. In 2013, the
Institute processed 316 questions and 44
requests. It also issued judgements on 20
cases (see Section III, Table 25).

There was an increase in the number of
women that took leave as compared with
the number of women entitled to take
leave. Whereas in 2008, 37.8 per cent of
women entitled to leave actually took it, in
2012 more than 53 per cent did so. Women
more often take parental leave than do
men. Only 18.1 per cent of men entitled to
take parental leave actually took it in 2008.
This percentage rose to 20.9 per cent in
2012. Among men, nearly half of those
taking leave went on paid parental leave
and, among women, a little more than half
of those who took leave went on paid
parental leave. Women take more hours per
week in parental leave, on average, than do
men. In contrast, among men there is a
longer average length of the parental leave
taken (17 months in 2012 compared with 13
months among women).
In March 2012, the Work and Care Act (Wet
arbeid en zorg) was amended to implement
the EU Directive concerning parental leave
(Directive 96/34/EC). The legal protection
against disadvantaging employees based on
their request for or use of parental leave has
thus been established. The amendment also
introduced the legal right of employees,
after making use of the legal entitlements
to parental leave, to request an adaptation
to their working hours pattern and a
requirement for the employers to consent

Women are not always informed about their
rights and obligations in regard to
pregnancy. The recommendations of the
CRM to the government focus on providing
good information. At rijksoverheid.nl,
under the subject “leave (including
pregnancy leave) and holiday” (“verlof
(waaronder zwangerschapsverlof ) en
vakantie”), a dossier is recorded in which all
rules for pregnant women are collected. The
Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment
(SZW) has also contacted the government
site for employers: “Antwoordvoorbedrijven.
nl” in order to add to the existing
information on the website on the subjects
of dismissal and pregnant women.
57

increased. The other half will be used to
give parents with an income at and above
103,574 euros the right again to a fixed
allowance of 18% to cover the costs of
childcare for their first child.

Childcare
To help cover the costs of childcare, Dutch
parents that work, or that are following a
path that leads to employment, and make
use of registered childcare receive a
financial subsidy (Section III, Table 23). The
amount of the subsidy received depends on
the income, on the number of children in a
family, on the costs of childcare, the
number of hours the parents work and the
maximum rates for the subsidies. Parents
receive this subsidy for a maximum of 230
hours per month per child. Government
expenditures on childcare rose in the period
between 2005 and 2011 from €1 billion in
2005 to €3.2 billion in 2011. Due to cuts and
due, in part, to higher unemployment,
expenditures on childcare are currently €2.5
billion. It is expected that costs will
continue to rise to €3.7 billion in 2015. It
should be noted that, despite the reduction
in expenditures, the Dutch expenditure on
childcare services is still above the OECD
average. The budgetary measures for
childcare subsidies are designed in such a
way that the loss of labour force
participation will be as limited as possible.
Moreover, parents with a low-income and
parents who work full-time will be
exempted from substantial income effects.

In comparison with 2008, the number of
households that made use of the childcare
allowance increased from 46 per cent to 48
per cent in 2012 for children ages 0 to 4. For
children ages 4 to 12, a stronger increase has
been registered: from 16 per cent to 23 per
cent.
The number of children that make use of
childcare fell by 4% in 2012. The number of
hours per child was 6% lower. The total
decrease in the use of childcare was 10% in
2012. The labour participation of mothers
and fathers with young children remained
reasonably stable in 2012. The figures for the
labour participation of women show a
reasonably stable picture. For mothers with
young children (0-12 years-old), there was a
slight increase from 71.1% to 71.5%. Only the
labour participation of single mothers fell
in 2012, from 64.6% to 63%.

Work and care
The provisions included in the Work and
Care Act contribute to making it easier for
parents to combine work and family care. In
2008, the Balkenende-IV Cabinet published
the results of a policy study focused on the
work and care regulations (Work and Care
Act [Wet arbeid en zorg] and the Adjustment
of Working Hours Act [Wet aanpassing
arbeidsduur – WAA]). As a result of this
study, the legislative bill Modernising

As of 1 January 2014, the Cabinet is making
100 million euros extra available for
childcare. Half of this sum will be used to
increase the allowance for parents with an
income between 47,812 and 103,573 euros.
The allowance for the first child is thus
58

- Agreements on the work floor concerning
the combination of work and caregiving/
childcare;
- A legal system of leave regulations that
address the changing needs in society;
- Preconditions, such as good, affordable
childcare and flexible office/business
hours in society;
- The division of care tasks between men
and women.

regulations for leave and working hours
(Modernisering regelingen voor verlof en
arbeidstijden) was drafted and sent to the
House of Representatives for plenary
consideration. The bill aims to remove
obstacles in the Work and Care Act and in
the WAA so that the provisions included in
them can be used more flexibly. The bill
contains changes in the existing legal
regulations for work and care, such as more
flexible ways to make use of parental leave
and an immediate right to its continuance
with a new employer, extension of
maternity leave in the case of hospital
admission of the child and making the use
of nursing care leave and adoption leave
more flexible.

Pay differences between women and
men / gender pay gap
The Ministry of Social Affairs and
Employment (SZW) has biennial studies
conducted into pay differences. The last
study conducted by Statistics Netherlands
(CBS) was done in 2012 and pertained to the
figures for 2010. Studies covering the years
2008 and 2010 show that women, just as in
earlier periods, earned less on average than
men. The pay gap, or the difference between
the average gross hourly wage of men and
women, is becoming smaller.16 More than
half of the pay gap can be explained by the
fact that women in the Netherlands often
work part-time.17 In the research models, the
differences in the hourly wage cannot
entirely be accounted for. So there is always
an unexplained remaining part of the gap

On 18 November 2013, a meeting was held
on work and care. This meeting was
organised by the Minister of Social Affairs
and Employment (SZW) in cooperation with
the State Secretary of Health, Welfare and
Sport (VWS) and the state secretaries for the
Ministry of Education, Culture and Science
(OCW). During the meeting, they had
discussions with representatives of social
partners, social organisations, academics
and other experts in regard to promoting
the combination of work and care. In view
of the attention points identified at the
meeting, the government Cabinet would
like to focus on four themes in the coming
period:

CBS, Equal pay for equal work?, Jobs and salaries
in government and business (Gelijk loon voor
gelijk werk?, Banen en lonen bij overheid en
bedrijfsleven), 2008 and CBS, Equal pay for equal
work?, Jobs and salaries in government and
business (idem.), 2010. Strategic objective B.2.
Eradicate illiteracy among women
17
OECD, Closing the Gender Gap, 2012.
16

59

that is called the “corrected pay gap”.18 Pay
differences between men and women should
be interpreted with due care and do not
always indicate discrimination in pay levels.
There are instruments (wage guide,
management tools) for employees and
employers to ascertain the differences in pay.

women have the same career opportunities
as men.

There was a 15% pay gap between men and
women working in government in 2008. The
corrected pay gap, the part of the difference
in pay that cannot be explained by the
background characteristics that are carried in
the research model of Statistics Netherlands
(CBS), was 7.7 per cent. In 2010, the pay gap
between men and women working in
government fell to 12.9 per cent and the
corrected pay gap fell to 7.0 per cent. In
business, the uncorrected pay gap decreased
from 22.1 per cent in 2008 to 20.4 per cent in
2010. The corrected pay gap fell from 9.3 per
cent in 2008 to 8.1 per cent in 2010.
There was a pay gap in government in the
youngest age group (15-23) in 2010 that was
slightly to the advantage of women. This was
also true for the age group of 23-35. This
pertained to a pay gap of 0.7% to the
advantage of women. In business, the pay
differences in 2010 in all age groups were to
the disadvantage of women, but here too
there was a much smaller pay gap in respect
of young women (23-35). This seems to
indicate that the current generation of young

18

CBS, Equal pay for equal work?, Jobs and salaries
in government and business (Gelijk loon voor gelijk
werk?, Banen en lonen bij overheid en bedrijfsleven) 2010, 2012

60

The current Cabinet wants to actively work
on removing the existing pay differences
between men and women doing equal work.
In this context, a request for a
recommendation was submitted to the
Social and Economic Council (SER)
concerning discrimination in the labour
market. Here specific attention was asked for
the role that social partners can play with
respect to the problems surrounding the pay
gap between men and women doing equal
work. The recommendation of the SER is
expected at the beginning of 2014. In
follow-up to this recommendation, it will be
ascertained whether and, if so, what
subsequent actions in the area of labour
market discrimination are necessary.
Also, in response to a study conducted by the
Netherlands Institute for Human Rights
(CRM), a look was taken into the causes of
the differences in pay between men and
women working in hospitals. The difference
seemed primarily to come from the
application of pay standards that have no
relation to the value of the work done, such
as those corresponding with the last-earned
salary, salary negotiations, etc. By identifying
such pay standards, a more honest pay
regime can be set up. The aim is to share the
outcomes of the study and the new approach
with other sectors. The CRM indicated in
2014 that it wanted to conduct an additional
study into pay differences in two other
sectors.

Pensions of men and women
All people entitled to a pension receive a State
Old-age Pension (Algemene Ouderdoms Wet
- AOW) allowance. This is a universal standard
allowance that all men and women in the
Netherlands receive based on the number of
years that they are registered as residents. The
nominal amount of the AOW allowance is a
little higher than the universal national
assistance benefit. The pension entitlements
of women still lag behind the pension
entitlements of men. In 2011, 60 per cent of
women had a supplementary pension,
compared with 92 per cent of men. In 2011, the
AOW allowance was the main source of
income for 40% of women above pension age.
This group did not receive any supplementary
pension. The percentage of men without a
supplementary pension in 2011 was 8%.
The build-up percentage for the AOW is the
actual number of insured years as a
proportion of the maximum number of years
potentially insured based on the age of the
person in question. Not everyone in the
Netherlands has a full old-age pension
build-up percentage. There are people with
an incomplete AOW-build-up. This happens,
for example, because they have not always
lived in the Netherlands and therefore have
not built up full entitlements. The pension
build-up percentage for both men and
women in the 2007 - 2011 period increased
from 98.3 to 98.6 per cent for native Dutch
people and from 72.8 to 73.8 for residents
with a foreign background. This is in relation
to the average incomes of native Dutch
women versus women with a foreign
61

background. Women with a foreign
background have a higher build-up
percentage than men with a foreign
background, with 74.3 per cent for women
and 73.3 per cent for men.
To supplement the AOW state old-age
pension, most people in the Netherlands
build up a supplementary pension. Sixty per
cent of the women have a supplementary
pension, compared with 92% of men.
Women build up, on average, half the
supplementary pension that men build up;
8,000 euros a year versus 16,000 euros a year.
Thirty-four per cent of women receive a
supplementary pension of 100-500 euros a
month. Thirteen per cent of women receive a
supplementary pension of 500-1000 euros a
month. Six per cent receive 1,000-1,500 euros
a month. Five per cent receive 1,500-2,000
euros and 4 per cent receive 2,000 euros a
month or more in supplementary pension to
supplement the AOW state old-age pension.
The annually built-up entitlements are higher
for women with a native Dutch background
than they are for women with a foreign
background. The pension entitlements of
women have increased in the last eleven
years by 10 percentage points; in 2,000 only
50 per cent of women had a supplementary
pension. The increase in the percentage of
women can primarily be explained by the
increased labour participation of women.19

19

http://www.cbs.nl/nl-NL/menu/themas/
inkomen-bestedingen/publicaties/artikelen/
archief/2012/2012-3555-wm.htm

G. Women in Power and Decision-making
Indicators developed by the EU:
G1.

The proportion of women in the single/lower houses of the national/federal parliaments
of the Member States and in the European Parliament

G2.

The proportion of women in the regional parliaments of the Member States, where
appropriate

G3.

The proportion of women in local assemblies in the Member States

G4.

Policies to promote a balanced participation in political elections

G5.

The proportion of women among the members of the national/ federal governments and
the proportion of women among members of the European Commission

G6.

The number of women and men among senior/junior ministers in the different fields of
action (portfolios/ministries) of the national/federal governments of the Member States

G7.

The proportion of the highest ranking civil servants who are women

G8.

The distribution of the highest ranking female civil servants in different fields of action

G9.

The proportion of women among the members of the Supreme Courts of the Member
States

G10.

The proportion and number of women and men among governors and deputy/vice-governors of the Central Banks

G11.

The proportion and number of women and men among members of the decision-making
bodies of the Central Banks

G12.

The proportion and number of women and men among ministers and deputy ministers/
vice-ministers of the Economic Ministries

G13.

The proportion and number of women and men among presidents and vice-presidents of
the Labour Confederations20

G14.

The proportion and number of women and men among members of all governing bodies
of the Labour Confederations21

G15.

The proportion and number of women and men among presidents and vice-presidents of
the Employer Confederations

G16.

The proportion and number of women and men among members of all governing bodies
of the Employer Confederations

G17.

The proportion and number of women and men among chiefs of executive boards of the
top 50 firms publicly quoted on the national stock exchange

G18.

The proportion and number of women and men among members of executive boards of
the top 50 firms publicly quoted on the national stock exchange

62

Women within political parties

declared inadmissible. The SGP executive
council changed its General Regulations
such that, in the nomination of candidates
for elections of a city council, the Provincial
States, the House of Representatives, the
Senate, and the European Parliament, the
sex of candidates cannot abrogate the
candidate’s right to run. The date this
change took effect was 1 April 2013.
Concretely, this means that, henceforth,
women from the SGP can stand as
candidates for their party. With the decision
of the SGP, which was followed by an
exchange of letters with the Cabinet and
discussions with the executive council of
the SGP, the candidate nomination
procedure of the SGP was brought into line
with the law as stipulated by the Supreme
Court. This removed the need for the State
to take any (further) measures. In the
municipality of Vlissingen, the first female
candidate has been included on the list of
candidates from the SGP in the position of
party leader.

The Dutch Government does not use target
figures and quotas for women serving in
political positions. The principle followed
in this area is that political parties
themselves are responsible for recruiting
and nominating candidates for political
positions. The freedom of political parties is
one of the basic conditions of the
Netherlands’ democratic system and there
are no rules or objectives active that
promote the recruitment of women. Many
political parties do have their own policy to
promote a representative proportion of
women, men and minorities. The figures on
the proportion of women serving as
administrators and politicians in local
governments are presented once every two
years in the State of Administration (“Staat
van het Bestuur”) (Section III, Table 26).
2021

To some extent, in response to a recommendation of the CEDAW committee to take
measures in this regard, legal action has
been taken in the Netherlands concerning
discrimination within the SGP party based
on the fact that women were not eligible to
stand for election within this political party.
In 2013, the SGP acted on a judgement of
the Supreme Court handed down on 9 April
2010 in the so-called SGP case and a
decision of the European Court of Human
Rights issued on 10 July 2012 in which the
SGP’s appeal against the aforementioned
judgement of the Supreme Court was
20
21

Women in the Senior Civil Service
The Senior Civil Service (De Algemene
Bestuursdienst – ABD) consists of the
approximately 550 senior civil servants of
the Dutch Government. Since 2007, the
percentage of women in the ABD has risen
from 18% to 27% in 2013. The goal of the
Cabinet is for at least 30% of the ABD to
consist of women by 2017. On 18 November
2013, the Minister for Housing and Public
Service (Wonen en Rijksdienst) sent a plan
of approach to the House of Representatives
which sets out how this objective can be

No data are available for this indicator.
No data are available for this indicator.

63

programme of supporting measures for
talented women has been put in place (MFA
Policy on Diversity, December 2012).
Numerical targets have been set for each
year and will be monitored closely
according to the principle of “comply and
explain”.

realised. In this plan, special attention is
given to three closely related features,
namely 1) talent development, 2) retention
of female managers and talents and 3)
goal-oriented outflow, in which space is
created for talent (intake) and sitting female
ABD directors (promotion). The Ministry of
Education, Culture and Science (OCW) and
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (BZ) have
signed the “Talent to the Top” Charter. The
charter is a public commitment and a code
with clear agreements for the realisation of
male-female diversity at the top.

Women in senior positions in the
private sector
Women are still underrepresented in senior
positions in companies (Section III, Table
27). On 1 January 2013, the government
introduced a target figure for large
companies, which is to have the
membership on their executive boards and
supervisory boards be made up of at least
30% women and the same percentage for
men. The target is not mandatory, but
progress will be monitored by the
government and companies will be asked to
explain the reasons for not complying with
the target.

Mayors
The Minister of the Interior and Kingdom
Relations (BZK and the Netherlands
Association of Mayors (Nederlands
Genootschap van burgemeesters) think it is
important for there to be more female
mayors. The position of mayor is one of the
most visible positions in the local
government. An instrument to bring this
about is the mayoralty orientation
programme, which is subsidised by the
Ministry of BZK and which is aimed at giving
likely mayoral candidates from trade and
industry the opportunity to orient and
prepare themselves for applying for a job
opening as a mayor of a municipality.

To encourage a better gender balance and
the appointment of women in top positions
at companies, the government further
supports the Talent to the Top Foundation,
which supports companies with
information and other managerial tools in
order to increase the number of female
managers. More than 200 companies have
now voluntarily signed the so-called Talent
to the Top Charter.

Diplomats
On 31 December 2012, overall female
participation in the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, including diplomats, stood at 50%.
Yet women occupy only 18% of the highest
ranks in the diplomatic service. The aim is
to increase this to 30% by 2017. A
64

H. Institutional Mechanisms for the Advancement of
Women
Indicators developed by the EU:
H1.

Status of governmental responsibility to promote gender equality

H2a.

Personnel resources of the governmental gender equality body

H2b.

Personnel resources of the designated body or bodies for the promotion of equal
treatment for women and men

H3.

Gender mainstreaming

The Gender Minister

cooperation with the Minister of Social
Affairs and Employment (SZW) in the
area of equal pay and the division of work
and care;
3 The Minister supports the emancipation
process in society with a good knowledge
infrastructure and goal-oriented
subsidies. There is, for example,
cooperation with municipal governments, which are supported with the
development and implementation of an
emancipation policy.
4 The Minister coordinates for the
Netherlands the implementation of UN
agreements in the area of gender by the
Netherlands. It therefore coordinates the
reports submitted by the Netherlands to
the CEDAW committee on the compliance
with the UN Convention on Eliminating
all Forms of Discrimination Against
Women, as well as the present report in
the context of the Beijing Platform for
Action.
5 The Minister is generally responsible for
monitoring and verifying progress in the
area of emancipation in the Netherlands.

Human rights and equality between men
and women are seen by the Cabinet as
fundamental of the democratic
constitutional state. The promotion of
women’s rights and LGBT rights, and the
emancipation of women, men and LGBT
people are therefore transecting themes for
the entire Cabinet policy. The Minister of
Education, Culture and Science has a policy
coordinating responsibility for the theme of
emancipation in the Netherlands. There are
five roles for the coordinating Minister for
Emancipation to distinguish:
1 The Minister has an agenda-making role
in establishing the general framework for
the emancipation policy;
2 The Minister has a supporting role to
fulfil in anchoring the emancipation
policy in the ministries. Where necessary
or preferred, the Minister reaches
agreements with the responsible
ministries on contributing to the
achievement of the emancipation
objectives. An example of this is the
65

In this connection, she sets up an
Emancipation Monitor every two years.

will be set up. In addition, the
Emancipation Directorate will take part in
relevant interministerial consultation, e.g.
in the areas of work and care, human rights
and transgender people.

The Dutch government has outlined the
main points of the policy up to 2016 in its
Emancipation Outline Memorandum
2014-201622. The Outline Memorandum
also indicates which ministries and social
organisations have entered into alliances.
Through the interministerial coordination,
the involvement of all senior politicians and
senior civil servants will be guaranteed in
the international and national reports on
gender. In current themes, explicit
emancipation policy will be created and
responsibilities established in each
ministry.

Knowledge infrastructure and
women’s organisations
The government subsidises institutions that
strengthen the knowledge infrastructure for
women’s emancipation. Three types of
institutions are recognised in this regard:
(i) Knowledge institutions that have set
themselves the goal of making data on the
position of women and girls in society and
the heritage of the women’s movements
accessible: The knowledge institute Atria,
which is subsidised in this context, was
established in 2013 after a merger between
two leading knowledge organisations in the
areas of women’s studies and history.

Personnel resources and
organisation
The coordinating Minister for Emancipation
is supported at official level by an
“Emancipation Directorate”. The directorate
has a staff of 20 FTEs to coordinate and
support the government-wide
emancipation policy. The Ministry of
Foreign Affairs has an Emancipation
Department/Task Force within the
Directorate of Social Development (Directie
Sociale Ontwikkeling) involving 5 FTEs. In
some other ministries as well there are
gender experts present, such as at the
Ministry of Defence.
For the main themes of the emancipation
policy, interministerial steering committees
22

(ii) Institutions with a national and regional
platform function for women of all ages,
cultures and disciplines: WOMEN Inc.
receives a subsidy in this context. In 2014,
WOMEN Inc. is organising activities that are
closely related to the subject of the
economic independence of women under
the theme “women and money”. The
emphasis lies at the regional and local
levels. A second theme which the
organisation aims specifically at
professionals is the theme of “women and
health”.
(iii) Institutions that promote the
emancipation of women and girls in society

Hoofdlijnenbrief Emancipatie 2013-2016
Vergaderjaar 2012–2013. 30 420.

66

by fulfilling an international role as
representative, a national role as agendasetter, and a consultative and supporting
role in the area of promoting the
emancipation of women and girls in
society: In this context, the Netherlands
Women’s Council (Nederlandse Vrouwen
Raad - NVR) is subsidised. Many women’s
organisations that are regionally active are
members of the NVR. The largest of these
organisations are Vrouwen van Nu and FNV
vrouw.

67

I. Human Rights of Women23
Women’s rights are human rights and
equality between men and women is one of
the foundations of the democratic
constitutional state. Equal opportunities
and rights for women, their full
participation in society and decisionmaking are also essential for international
security and stability, for the creation of
prosperity and for stable growth.
In its domestic and foreign policy, the
Cabinet promotes gender equality on two
tracks that reinforce one another. The first
track is a coordinating gender policy that is
aimed at development, safety and economic
and political participation for women. The
second track focuses on the integration of
gender concerns in the other parts of the
foreign policy. 23

all the activities of the Equal Treatment
Commission (Commissie Gelijke
Behandeling). This means that the Institute
oversees the equal treatment laws and, in
individual cases, assesses whether someone
is being discriminated against at work, in
education or as a consumer.

Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW)
CEDAW is the most important document for
promoting and guaranteeing the rights of
women internationally. CEDAW serves as a
guide for both the national emancipation
policy in the Netherlands and the efforts
made in an international context. Again and
again we have seen that the convention,
although widely supported, has not yet
been sufficiently implemented in many
places in the world. As a result, women
cannot yet make use of their human rights
throughout the world. Examples of this
include the abuse of and violence waged
against women, women’s poor access to
decision-making and education, and a
denial of the economic importance of the
female labour potential.

The Netherlands Institute for Human Rights
protects, monitors, spotlights and
promotes human rights in the Netherlands
through research, advice, information
provision and the individual assessment of
cases of discrimination. The Institute
reports annually on the situation related to
human rights in the Netherlands. In order
to be able to monitor the international
recommendations from organisations such
as the United Nations, the Institute has
collected the recommendations and placed
them in a knowledge bank. The Netherlands
Institute for Human Rights has taken over
23

In May 2014, the Kingdom of the
Netherlands issued its sixth periodic
national report on the progress of
implementation of the CEDAW convention.
The Dutch UN women’s network, a
collaboration between NGOs focused on the
theme, were actively involved in drafting

In this area, no EU indicators have yet been
developed.

68

Minister of Social Affairs and Employment
sent a letter to the House of
Representatives, on behalf of himself and
four other ministers, concerning the
manner in which the Cabinet wishes to
strengthen the chain approach to forced
marriages. In the letter, measures are
announced to strengthen the approach to
tackling forced marriages and
abandonment abroad in the areas of
identification, reporting and providing
better, faster assistance, including taking
more immediate action in complex cases of
women being left behind in foreign
countries (abandonment abroad). With
regard to the prevention of forced
marriages, in July 2012 the House of
Representatives was informed about a plan
of approach for 2012 – 2014 that focuses on
preventing people from becoming victims
of forced marriages. The primary lines of
approach are that awareness-raising has to
be brought about within the communities
themselves and that promoting expertise
among professionals in the environment of
young people is essential. Twelve projects
are linked to these main points, including
making taboo subjects discussable within
families and a multi-media campaign “Als
niemand iets weet” (If no-one knows)
aimed at young people between the ages of
14 and 25; the group that is at risk of being
married off. An e-learning module has also
been developed for professionals in social
work, in youth care and in health care. On 1
July 2013, the Act for broadening the
criminal prosecution of forced marriages,
polygamy and female genital mutilation

this report. The report was also sent to
Parliament.

Mainstreaming gender equality in
the EU
Gender equality is an important transecting
theme of the EU 2020 Strategy and the EU
Cohesion Policy 2014-2020. In the countryspecific recommendations of the EC,
recommendations were made on repealing
the tax disadvantages for double income
families and making the labour market
more flexible. These recommendations
were considered by the Ministry of Social
Affairs and the Ministry of Economic Affairs
in consultation with the Emancipation
Directorate.

Convention on preventing and
combating violence against women
and domestic violence (CAHVIO)
An important milestone was the signing by
the Netherlands of the CAHVIO Convention
of the Council of Europe on 14 November
2012. The legislative process for the
ratification of the convention was launched
in 2014.

Forced marriage
The right to self-determination, to make
one’s own choices concerning one’s life, is a
fundamental human right. Phenomena
such as forced marriage, marital
imprisonment, abandonment abroad and
honour-related violence are a consequence
of the failure to recognise a person’s right to
self-determination and constitute serious
forms of violence. On 6 June 2013, the
69

- Young people’s access to information;
- Increased access to sexual and reproductive health commodities;
- Increased access to high-quality sexual
and reproductive health care services;
- Greater respect for the sexual and
reproductive rights of people to whom
these rights are denied;
- The allocation for SRHR from the
Netherlands’ Official Development Aid
(ODA) budget stood at 380 million in
2013; or almost 10% of total ODA.

took effect. This law will expand the
possibilities for criminal prosecution.

Sexual and reproductive rights
international
Ever since the early 1990s, the Netherlands’
international policy has been steadfast in its
commitment to supporting and advancing
sexual and reproductive health and rights
(SRHR). In recent years, there has been
greater focus on priorities. The current
priorities within the SRHR agenda are:

70

J. Women and the Media
Indicators developed by the EU:
J1.

The proportion of women and men in decision-making posts in media organisations

J2.

The proportion of women and men on the boards of media organisations

J3.

Policies to promote gender equality in media organisations

Policies to promote gender equality
in media organisations

4 and 5 July 2013. Focus areas were “women
in top media positions” and “stereotyping
in the media”. The conference formulated
recommendations for governments,
international organisations and the media.
These recommendations have been passed
on to a platform of journalists and media
organisations. This platform is actually
elaborating on subsequent steps to take to
improve the image of women in the media.
Proportion of women and men in decision
making in the media

The role of the media has always been
considered crucial for the promotion of
gender equality. The media not only reflects,
but also creates sociocultural patterns and
norms. It is increasingly seen as a powerful
player in shaping public opinion and
culture. In the Netherlands, the Woman &
Media Foundation is an independent
organisation that provides a platform for
women in journalism. More than 1,100
media women subscribe to its newsletter.
The foundation monitors public debate and
intervenes regarding the position of women
in journalism. Women in the Media
produced a 2009 survey focused on the
position of women in broadcasting in the
Netherlands.

Proportion of women and men in
decision making in the media
The Netherlands also took part in the review
on women and the media conducted by the
European Institute for Gender Equality
(EIGE)24. Within the EU, the area of Women
and the Media had not been reviewed
before and the need for comparable data to

Recently, the theme of women and the
media was taken up for the first time as an
explorative theme for the Dutch
emancipation policy. The Gender Equality
Committee of the Council of Europe, which
is being chaired by the Netherlands,
organised a conference entitled Women and
their Image in the Media for the 47 Council
of Europe member states in Amsterdam on

24

71

Review of the implementation of the Beijing
Platform for Action in the EU Member States:
Women and the Media — Advancing gender
equality in decision-making within media
organisations. EIGE Publication, Fri, 21-06-2013
http://eige.europa.eu/content/document/
advancing-gender-equality-in-decision-makingin-media-organisations-report

media is increasing, the organisational
culture of the media remains largely
masculine and women are still significantly underrepresented in managerial
positions at the decision-making level. In
the public media sector, women occupy
only 22 % of strategic decision-making
positions in the EU-27. In the private
sector the percentage is even lower, with
women occupying only 12 % of strategic
decision-making positions. However,
there is evidence of progress in the
gender equality self-regulation of media
organisations. This may lead to strengthening the position of women within media
organisations if supported at national
and EU policy level by definitive action.

monitor women’s participation in the
decision-making processes in the media
sector became urgent. The study of EIGE was
the first comparative study conducted of
data on the number of women in decisionmaking positions across major media
organisations in the 27 EU Member States
and Croatia. The report furthermore
identified the extent to which these same
organisations have developed gender
equality policies, monitoring mechanisms
and specific initiatives to support women’s
career development. The report proposes
useful indicators in the area of Women and
the Media for the Beijing Platform for
Action.
The findings of the 1995 study showed that
the greatest progress booked by women
globally was in Estonia and Lithuania,
where, in both countries, women had
become 50 % of the media workforce. In
Western Europe, women fared best in
broadcasting (e.g. 40 % of workforce in the
UK, 39 % in Germany) and in the Nordic
countries of Europe women were well over
40 % in all four countries surveyed. Yet at
executive producer levels, where decisions
about media content can be made, women’s
advancement has been strong only in
Estonia (48 %) and Romania (40 %), but
ranges from 4 % (in Germany) to 33 % (in
Bulgaria) in the rest of Europe.

2 The same pattern has been seen at the
national level in the Netherlands.
National data show that the comparative
proportions of women and men in
decision-making managerial positions
and on boards in media organisations
overall are still very uneven. Decisionmaking in private media organisations in
the Netherlands, especially, is still
completely dominated by men. There is
evidence of progress, however, in the
gender equality self-regulation of media
organisations, which may lead to
strengthening the position of women
(Section III, Figure 9-12).

1 While women have considerably
outnumbered men in university-level and
practice-based journalism programmes
and the employment of women in the
72

K. Women and the Environment
Indicators developed by the EU:
K1.

Proportion of women and men in climate change decision-making bodies at the national
level in the EU Member States

K2.

Proportion of women and men in climate change decision-making positions in the
European Parliament and on the Commission

K3.

Proportion of women and men in climate change decision-making bodies at the
international level

K4.

Proportion of women and men among tertiary graduates of all graduates (ISCED levels 5
and 6) in the natural sciences and technologies at the EU and Member State levels

“Nature”, only 9.5% of the professors were
women in 2011, while the percentage of
female students in this field was 37.1% in
the same year. In agriculture, the percentage
of female professors is slowly increasing
and reached a level of 8.9% in 2011. In the
same year, however, more than half of the
agricultural students were female (55.4%).
Specific data about the position of women
in environmental technology are not
available. Yet the overall picture in
technology is that, while 20.4% of
technology students are girls, only 7.4% of
the professors in these fields are women25.

The Government actually does not carry out
targeted monitoring of female participation
in this area, nor have specific policies been
developed or proposed. Although many
women are involved or interested in
environmental careers or studies, little data
is available on the position of women in
environmental science and policy-making.
Some Dutch NGOs are managing projects
targeting women’s environmental activities,
participation and gender mainstreaming in
environmental policies, i.e. WECF (http://
www.wecf.eu/) and the Milieunet
Foundation/Women and the environment
(http://www.stichtingmilieunet.nl/
vrouwenmilieu.html).
According to the National Network of
Female Professors in the Netherlands
(Nationaal Netwerk Vrouwelijke
Hoogleraren), the percentage of female
professors/high-level academic staff in
environmental areas does not represent the
actual number of female students and
graduates in these fields. In the field of

25

73

Source: Monitor Vrouwelijke Hoogleraren 2012,
Stichting de Beauvoir
http://www.stichtingdebeauvoir.nl/

L. The Girl Child
Indicators developed by the EU:
L1.

Sex and relationship education: parameters of sexuality-related education in schooling
(primary and secondary)

L2.

Body self-image: dissatisfaction of girls and boys with their bodies26

L3.

Educational accomplishments: comparison of 15-year-old students’ performance in
mathematics and science and the proportion of women students in tertiary education in
the fields of science, mathematics and computing and in the fields of teacher training and
education science

Sex and diversity education26

way around) if one looks at the average
CITO scores (from National Institute for
Educational Measurement). Boys are a little
better in arithmetic, girls somewhat better
in language skills. On average, boys earn
just a little higher CITO scores, but are also
enrolled more often in special education
and fall a little more often into the group of
children that do not participate in the
regular CITO test.

With the adaptation of the attainment
targets for primary education, special
education and the lower years of secondary
education, all such schools are required as
of 1 December 2012 to give attention to
sexuality and sexual diversity. For special
secondary schools, this requirement enters
into force as of 1 August 2013. The
attainment targets for primary education,
special (secondary) education and the lower
years of secondary education have been
supplemented with an attainment target
component which is aimed at teaching
pupils to treat the subjects of sexuality and
diversity with respect within society – this
includes sexual diversity. These attainment
targets give schools the opportunity to give
attention to the sexual development of both
boys and girls.

In secondary education, a difference arises
in the lower years. In their choice of a
secondary school, boys and girls depart
from the Cito advice given roughly just as
often, but girls enrol in a secondary school
of a higher level more often than boys,
while for boys this scenario is the other way
around. Girls transfer to a higher level of
education in the first three years of
secondary education more often, whereas
boys transfer to a lower level of education
more often (in relative terms compared
with each other). This leads to a situation in
which girls more often enrol in senior
general secondary education (HAVO) or
pre-university education (VWO), while their

Achievements of girls and boys in
primary and secondary education
At the end of primary education, boys do
not perform less well than girls (or the other
26

There are no data available for this indicator.

74

the examination requirements; that is 9
percentage points lower than four years
earlier and is well below the average pass
rate of native Dutch pupils.

standard Cito score is, on average, a little
lower than that of boys.
From the figures of the Dienst Uitvoering
Onderwijs or DUO (the government
implementation agency for the education
sector) for the 3rd year, it seems that girls do
indeed enrol relatively more often in HAVO/
VWO while boys tend to enrol more often in
pre-vocational secondary education
(VMBO). Over the last 10 years there has
been no visible change in this trend: both
groups enrol in HAVO/VWO more often and
the difference between them is not
increasing further. However, a change can
be observed with respect to the choice of
study: in VMBO increasingly fewer pupils
choose the technology sector (which
primarily can be attributed to the
decreasing interest of boys), and the same
applies to health care (in respect of girls).

Girls gender stereotypes and selfesteem in study careers
With respect to gender stereotyping in
terms of study careers, in recent years the
percentage of girls in senior general
secondary education (HAVO) or preuniversity education (VWO) that opt to study
science and technology has increased. In
the 2010/11 school year, 29% of girls chose
to enrol in a science cluster. In VWO, almost
half of all girls (49%) opted for a science
cluster. In the 2006/07 school year, these
scores were significantly lower: 20% and
41% respectively. This increase is not evident
in pre-vocational secondary education
(VMBO) however. The percentage of girls
that opt to study technology has been
fluctuating around 5% for years now and an
upward trend is not visible.

In regard to final examinations, boys and
girls do not differ much when it comes to
pass rates. The pass rates for girls and boys
are 92% in VWO, 88% in HAVO and 94% in
VMBO. The decrease in the pass rates in
recent years is due to a significant degree to
the number of pupils from non-Western
foreign backgrounds that do not pass. Their
pass rate in VWO is 12 percentage points
lower, in HAVO it is 10 to 14 percentage
points lower (with non-Western boys
performing a little better than non-Western
girls) and in VMBO it is 7 to 11 percentage
points lower (with the same distinction). In
2009/10, only three-quarters of the pupils
from non-Western foreign backgrounds met

By organising specific information activities
for girls at secondary and pre-secondary
schools (the role-model approach, Careers
guidance processes, a so-called “Girls Day”
organised by the Dutch National Expert
Organisation on Girls/Women and Science
and Technology), more girls are opting to
study science and technology. This autumn,
an independent evaluation of ongoing
projects in pre-university and advanced
secondary education will be carried out. As
a part of this, consideration will be given to
the impact of and safeguards for the
75

activities undertaken. Projects in primary
education and pre-vocational secondary
education (VMBO) will continue until
mid-2014 and will be evaluated afterwards.
Together with secondary schools and
universities, the Netherlands government
established a so-called Technology Pact. The
objective of the Technology Pact is to
promote collaboration between the
education sector and the business sector, to
improve the quality of technology
education and to interest more young
people, including girls, in technology. The
Minister for Economic Affairs, the Minister
for Social Affairs and Employment, and the
State Secretary and the Minister for
Education, Culture and Science signed the
Technology Pact on behalf of the
government in 2103.

76

77

Section III. Data and statistics

78

List of figures and tables:
A. Women and Poverty

Table 1:
Table 2:
Table 3:

Proportion and number of women at risk of falling into poverty
Economic self-reliance of women in different age groups
Economic self-reliance of women in urban and non-urban areas

B. Education and Training of Women

Figure 1:

Students in academic and professional higher university as a
percentage of the population ages 18-25, disaggregated by sex
Figure 2: Tipping point for first-year university students 1999
Figure 3: Tipping point for total number of students 2006
Table 4: Participants in senior secondary vocational education, 2011/12
C. Women and Health

Figure 4: Cardiovascular diseases disaggregated by gender
D. Violence against Women

Table 5:
Table 6:

Registered possible victims of human trafficking
Complaints of aggression, violence and intimidation lodged with
the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Social Affairs

E. Women and Armed Conflict

Table 7:
Table 8:
Table 9:
Table 10:
Table 11:
Table 12:

Breakdown of military personnel as of 1 January 2012
Breakdown of military personnel as of 1 January 2013
Breakdown of civilian personnel as of 1 January 2012
Breakdown of civilian personnel as of 1 January 2013
Trend in proportion of women in by rank and scale groups
Personnel composition at the Ministry of Defence, including
agencies as of 1 January 2013
Table 13: Total number of asylum decisions on asylum requests submitted by
women by type of decision
Table 14: Total number of asylum decisions after asylum requests submitted
by men by type of decision
Table 15: Asylum decisions on asylum requests submitted by women from
Somalia by type of decision

79

Table 16: Asylum decisions on asylum requests submitted by women from
Syria by type of decision
Table 17: Asylum decisions on asylum requests submitted by women from
Iraq by type of decision
Table 18: Asylum decisions on asylum requests submitted by women from
Afghanistan by type of decision
Table 19: Asylum decisions on asylum requests submitted by women from
Iran by type of decision
Table 20: Asylum decisions on asylum requests submitted by women from
Eritrea by type of decision
F. Women and the Economy

Figure 5: Gross labour participation of women and men
Figure 6: Gross labour participation of women by age
Table 21: Labour participation (in %) of women with non-Western foreign
background
Table 22: Working hours of women per week, 2008 and 2012, by age group
Table 23: Use of childcare allowance (x 1000)
Table 24: Parental leave of women, rights and use of this leave from 2008 to
2012
Table 25: Average income of men and women
G. Women in Power and Decision-making

Table 26: Women in politics
Table 27: Number of women at the top (boards of management and
supervisory directors) of Dutch trade and industry
I. Human Rights of Women

Table 28: Assessments of the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights of
complaints about discrimination in the labour market based on sex,
by goods and services and mixed

80

J. Women and the Media

Figure 7:

Proportion of women and men at different decision-making levels
in public media organisations
Figure 8: Proportion of women and men on the boards in media
organisations
Figure 9: Proportion of women and men at different levels of decisionmaking in public media organisations
Figure 10: Proportion of women and men on the boards in media
organisations

81

A. Women and Poverty
Table 1: Proportion and number of women at risk of falling into poverty

Number x 1000

Total
number in
NL

In households with
low incomes
(number)

In households with
low incomes
(%)

In households with
long-term
low incomes
(number)

In households
with long-term
low incomes
(%)

2000

7,535

873

11.6

335

5.0

2005

7,715

739

9.6

221

3.2

2010

7,923

546

6.9

157

2.2

2011

7,969

607

7.6

166

2.3

2012

7,992

700

8.8

182

2.5

Source: CBS/SCP (from poverty description 2012)
Table 2: Economic independence of women in different age groups

Ages
15-20

Ages
20-25

Ages
25-30

Ages
30-35

Ages
35-40

Ages
40-45

Ages
45-50

Ages
50-55

Ages
55-60

Ages
60-65

2007

1

35.3

69.6

65.9

59.8

56.6

56.6

50.5

36.8

14.6

2009

0.6

33.4

68.8

68.7

62.2

59.8

58.5

55.8

41.7

18.2

2011*

0.5

28.5

64.6

68.9

62.5

61.3

58.9

55.5

45.5

22.9

Table 3: Economic independence of women in urban and non-urban areas

Area / Year

2007

2009

2011

Highly urban

48.4%

48.8%

48.0%

Strongly urban

46.6%

48.5%

48.7%

Moderately urban

46.0%

48.1%

48.6%

Sparsely urban

44.1%

46.5%

46.7%

Non-urban

42.7%

44.3%

45.7%

82

B. Education and training of women
Figure 1: Number of students in higher education as a percentage of the population ages 18-25 by sex.

Source: Statistics Netherlands (CBS)

83

Figure 2: Tipping point for first-year university students 1999

Figure 3: Tipping point for total number of students 2006

Notes on Figures 2 and 3
The number of first-year students has increased by more than half in the last 15 years to 129 thousand in 2009/10.
The percentage of women in this period (since 96/97) rose above 50 per cent and the proportion of students with a
foreign background also increased relatively rapidly.
Source: Ministry of Education, Culture and Science

84

Table 4: Participants in senior secondary vocational education, 2011/12

Sex

Total

Level 1:
Assistant
worker level
training

Level 2: Basic
vocational
training

Level 3:
Professional
training

Level 4:
Middlemanagement
and specialist
training

Men

53

61

65

49

48

Women

47

39

35

51

52

Source: Statistics Netherlands (CBS)

C. Women and Health
Figure 4: Cardiovascular diseases disaggregated by gender

% Causes of death
All cardiovascular diseases
Coronary heart disease (CHD)
Stroke
Other CVDs

2007

2008

2009

2010

men

29.8

28.9

28.0

27.7

women

31.5

30.4

29.9

29.6

men

10.4

10.0

9.5

9.1

women

7.5

7.0

6.5

6.2

men

5.7

5.5

5.2

5.2

women

8.4

8.0

8.1

7.7

men

13.7

13.4

13.3

13.4

women

15.7

15.5

15.3

15.7

Source: Eurostat

85

D. Violence against Women
Table 5: Registered possible victims of human trafficking

Number (of possible)
victims of human
trafficking

Number of (possible)
female victims

Number of (possible)
male victims
(percentage of the total)

0

2000

341

2001

284

2002

343

2003

257

257

2004

405

404

1 (0%)

2005

424

422

2 (0%)

2006

579

549

30 (5%)

2007

716

664

49 (7%)

2008

826

779

46 (6%)

2009

909

770

138 (15%)

2010

993

879

113 (11%)

2011

1222

996

226 (19%)

Source: Figures 2001 – 2006: National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking (2010). Human trafficking – 10 years of
National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking in the Netherlands – Eighth report of the national rapporteur.
Figures 2007 – 2011: National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking and Sexual Violence against Children (2012).
Human trafficking, visible and invisible. Report in figures (2007-2011).
The Hague: BNRM
Table 6: Complaints of aggression, violence and intimidation
lodged with the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Social Affairs

Year

2010

2011

2012

Total number

11

7

10

Well-founded

1

1

1

4

1

Partially founded

1

Unfounded

3

3

Withdrawn

4

1

2

No decision yet

2

1

3

86

E. Women and armed conflict
Table 7: Breakdown of military personnel as of 1 January 201227

Men
Rank and file

Persons

Women
FTEs

Persons

Totaal
FTEs

Persons

FTEs

men

13,666

13,666

1,480

1,480

15,146

15,146

non-commissioned officers

18,386

18,386

1,768

1,768

20,154

20,154

Officers

9,125

9,123

1,004

1,004

10,129

10,127

TOTAL

41,177

41,175

4,252

4,252

45,429

45,427

FTEs

Persons

FTEs

1,298

13,985

13,985

Table 8: Breakdown of military personnel as of 1 January 20131

Men

Women

Rank and file

Persons

FTEs

Persons

men

12,687

12,687

1,298

Totaal

non-commissioned officers

18,142

18,142

1,796

1,796

19,911

19,911

Officers

8,808

8,806

1,013

1,013

9,821

9,819

TOTAL

36,637

39,635

4,080

4,080

43,717

43,715

Notes to Tables 7 and 8
These tables show the division of military personnel as of 1 January 2012 and 1 January 2013 by rank and subdivided
by men/women. The results are expressed in the number of persons and full-time hours. The results pertain to all
military personnel working at the Ministry of Defence, including agencies, project organisations and military
personnel working for third parties.
Table 9: Breakdown of civilian personnel as of 1 January 20121

Men
Persons

27

Women
FTEs

Persons

FTEs

Up to salary scale 5

4,967

4,900

1,735

1,336

Salary scale 6 – 8

3,811

3,773

1,524

1,313

Salary scale 9 and higher

5,599

5,510

1,381

1,251

Source: National Budget 2013. Budget set for Defence http://www.rijksbegroting.nl/2013/
kamerstukken,2013/4/12/kst180815.html

87

Table 10: Breakdown of civilian personnel as of 1 January 20131

Men

Women

Persons

FTEs

Persons

FTEs

Up to salary scale 5

4,640

4,584

1,598

1,229

Salary scale 6 – 8

3,542

3,509

1,435

1,421

Salary scale 9 and higher

5,306

5,233

1,331

1,203

Notes to Tables 9 and 10
These tables show the breakdown of civilian personnel as of 1 January 2012 and 1 January 2013 by scale group and
subdivided by men/women. The results are expressed in numbers of persons and full-time hours. The results pertain
to civilians working at the Ministry of Defence, including agencies, project organisations and civilians working for
third parties.
Table 11: Trend in proportion of women by rank and scale groups1

End 2009

End 2010

End 2011

End 2012

Up to but not including the rank of
Lieutenant Commander/Major

9,5%

9,6%

9,6%

9,5%

Starting at rank the rank of Lieutenant
Commander/Major

6,6%

6,8%

7,4%

7,6%

Starting at rank of Colonel

2,4%

2,6%

3,7%

4,0%

Starting at scale 10

26,8%

26,6%

26,4%

26,4%

Up to but not incl. scale 10

19,3%

19,2%

19,4%

19,8%

Starting at scale 14

10,2%

10,5%

11,4%

12,8%

Military personnel

Civilian personnel

Notes to Table 11
This table shows the trend in the percentage of women by rank and scale groups in the upper echelons of military
and civilian personnel. The results are expressed as a percentage of the total of the ranks or scale groups. The results
pertain to personnel working at the Ministry of Defence, including agencies, project organisations and personnel
working for third parties.

88

Table 13: Total number of asylum decisions on asylum requests submitted by women by type of decisions

CITIZEN

Total females

Decisions

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

190

195

265

235

205

Humanitarian status

1,430

1,970

1,455

1,020

810

Rejected

1,475

2,340

2,930

2,710

2,600

Subsidiary protection status

845

1,695

2,175

2,055

1,550

Temporary protection status

0

0

0

0

0

Total number of decisions

3,935

6,200

6,825

6,025

5,165

Total positive decisions

2,460

3,860

3,890

3,315

2,565

Geneva Convention status

(Source: Eurostat)
Table 14: Total number of asylum decisions after asylum requests submitted by men by type of decision

CITIZEN

Total males

Decisions

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Geneva Convention status

325

500

545

475

425

Humanitarian status

2,120

2,305

1,730

1,030

740

Rejected

3,770

6,980

6,645

6,255

5,565

765

1,575

1,835

2,010

1,775

Subsidiary protection status

0

0

0

0

0

Total number of decisions

Temporary protection status

6,985

11,360

10,755

9,770

8,505

Total positive decisions

3,215

4,380

4,110

3,515

2,935

(Source: Eurostat)

89

Table 15: Asylum decisions on asylum requests submitted by women from Somalia by type of decision

CITIZEN

Somalia Females

Decisions/Year

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

15

20

30

5

5

Geneva Convention status
Humanitarian status

440

1,110

665

220

105

Rejected

255

500

525

260

165

Subsidiary protection status

235

670

1,065

635

355

Temporary protection status

0

0

0

0

0

Total number of decisions

945

2,300

2,285

1,125

630

Total positive decisions

685

1,800

1,760

865

465

(Source: Eurostat)
Table 16: Asylum decisions on asylum requests submitted by women from Syria by type of decision

CITIZEN

Syria Females

Decisions/Year

2008

2009

2010

Geneva Convention status

0

5

Humanitarian status

0

0

Rejected

20

Subsidiary protection status
Temporary protection status

2011

2012

0

0

10

5

10

10

20

20

15

10

5

5

5

0

170

0

0

0

0

0

Total number of decisions

25

30

35

25

200

Total positive decisions

5

10

10

10

190

(Source: Eurostat)

90

Table 17: Asylum decisions on asylum requests submitted by women from Iraq by type of decision

CITIZEN

Iraq Females

Decisions/Year

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Geneva Convention status

75

60

45

40

40

Humanitarian status

515

365

195

160

220

Rejected

200

480

245

215

170

Subsidiary protection status

175

450

360

390

345

Temporary protection status

0

0

0

0

0

Total number of decisions

965

1360

840

805

775

Total positive decisions

765

880

600

590

610

(Source: Eurostat)
Table 18: Asylum decisions on asylum requests submitted by women from Afghanistan by type of decision

CITIZEN

Afghanistan Females

Decisions/Year

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Geneva Convention status

0

5

10

20

15

Humanitarian status

45

55

100

210

125

Rejected

65

185

305

335

335

Subsidiary protection status

45

75

165

255

160

Temporary protection status

0

0

0

0

0

Total number of decisions

155

320

580

820

635

Total positive decisions

90

135

275

485

300

(Source: Eurostat)

91

Table 19: Asylum decisions on asylum requests submitted by women from Iran by type of decision

CITIZEN

Iran Females

Decisions/Year

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

15

25

65

60

75

Geneva Convention status
Humanitarian status

25

35

70

90

85

Rejected

55

100

125

200

260

Subsidiary protection status

25

20

50

80

55

Temporary protection status

0

0

0

0

0

Total number of decisions

120

180

310

425

480

Total positive decisions

65

80

185

230

220

(Source: Eurostat)
Table 20: Asylum decisions on asylum requests submitted by women from Eritrea by type of decision

CITIZEN
Decisions/Year

Eritrea Females
2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Geneva Convention status

10

10

20

15

10

Humanitarian status

20

15

20

35

10

Rejected

15

45

70

80

95

Subsidiary protection status

50

85

105

155

135

Temporary protection status

0

0

0

0

0

Total number of decisions

95

155

220

280

250

Total positive decisions

80

110

150

200

155

(Source: Eurostat)

92

F. Women and the Economy
Figure 7: Gross labour participation of women (green line), men (red line) and total (blue line)

Source: Statistics Netherlands (CBS)

Figure 8: Gross labour participation of women by age

Source: Statistics Netherlands (CBS)

93

Table 21: Labour participation (in %) of women with non-Western foreign background

2008

2012

Surinam

67.6

68,5

Neth. Ant. or Aruba

59.6

63.5

Turkey

47.3

49.3

Morocco

44.3

44.4

Source: Statistics Netherlands (CBS)
Table 22: Working hours of women per week, 2008 and 2012, by age group

Working hours per week
women

Ages
15-25

Ages
25-35

Ages
35-45

Ages
45-55

Ages
55-65

2008

28.3

31.1

27.4

27.7

26.7

2012

26.9

31

27.9

27.9

27.3

Source: Statistics Netherlands (CBS)
Table 23: Use of childcare allowance (x 1000)

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Total average number of children

600

696

715

738

709

Child day-care centres

262

290

314

323

303

Out-of-school care

198

246

283

305

303

Childminding

140

160

118

110

103

SZW calculation based on information from Tax Administration (key figures SZW)
Table 24: Parental leave of women, rights and use of leave in 2008 to 2012

Number of
persons
entitled to
leave

Total number
of women that
took parental
leave

Total number
of women that
took paid
parental leave

Duration of
parental leave

Hours of
parental leave
per week

2008

119,000

45,000

25,000

10 months

11 hours

2009

128,000

53,000

30,000

10 months

12 hours

2010

122,000

52,000

30,000

11 months

10 hours

2011

128,000

63,000

32,000

12 months

10 hours

2012

132,000

70,000

37,000

13 months

10 hours

Source: CBS, Statline
94

Table 25: Average annual income of men and women

Men

Women

Difference

2005

35,400

15,000

20,400

2010

40,000

19,400

20,600

2011 (provisional figure)

40,000

19,800

20,200

Source: CBS, 26 November 2013

G. Women in Power and Decision-making
Table 26: Women in politics

Percentage of women

2006

2008

2010

2012

European Parliament

44

52

48

46.2

Dutch Senate

29

35

35

36

Dutch House of Representatives

39

39

41.3

40

Provincial States

28

36

34.8 (2009)

34.5

City Councils

26

26

26,8

26.7

Executives of district water boards

11

?

19

20

Ministers

33

31

25 / 25*

33.3 / 38.5**

State Secretaries

40

55

63.6 / 12.5*

12.5 / 42.9**

Royal Commissioner

8

17

8.3 (2009)

16.6

Provincial Executive

17

30

30.4 (2009)

29.3

Mayors

20

18

19

21

16.7 (2005)

18 (2007)

18.1

19.5

Aldermen and Alderwomen
Source: Ministry of the Interior

Notes to Table 26:
* Cabinet Balkenende IV / Cabinet Rutte I (ended on 14 October 2010)
** Cabinet Rutte I / Cabinet Rutte II (ended on 5 November 2012)

95

Table 27: Number of women at the top (boards of management and supervisory directors) of Dutch trade
and industry

Largest companies

2001

2007

2009

2011

Top 25

4.6

8.9

10.6

11.7

Top 100

5.1

7.3

9.3

10.2

Top 500

3.9

5.6

6.8

7.5

Top 5000

3.1

4.5

4.2

6.0

Source: Emancipatiemonitor 2012 (SCP/CBS)I. Human Rights of Women

I. Human Rights of Women
Table 28: Assessments of the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights of complaints about discrimination in
the labour market based on sex, by goods and services and mixed.

Labour market

5

Source Netherlands Institute for Human Rights.

96

Total

unspecified

3

Several
domains per
assessment
unspecified

9

Labour other

7

Conditions of
employment

2

End of employment relationship

Appointment

Recruitment and
selection
17

Goods and
services

1

44

J. Women and the media
Figure 9: Proportion of women and men at different levels of decision-making in media organisations in
2012

Figure 10: Proportion of women and men at different levels of decision-making in private media
organisations, in 2012

97

Figure 11: Proportion of women and men at different levels of decision-making in public media organisations in 2012

Figure 12: Proportion of women and men on the boards in media organisations 2012

98

Notes to figures:
1 Data collection and analysis: EIGE Review of the implementation of the Beijing
Platform for Action in the EU Member States: Women and the Media — Advancing
gender equality in decision-making in media organisations (http://eige.europa.eu/content/
document/advancing-gender-equality-in-decision-making-in-media-organisations-report)
2 The indicator encompasses four different decision-making levels, from the highest
strategic roles to middle managers as follows:
Level 1: The highest decision-making level covering all strategic decisions related to the
organisation. The titles that may be covered under this level are: Chief Executive Officer,
Chairperson, President, Director or similar positions. The person holding this position
is likely to chair the most senior strategic or policymaking board or committee(s) of the
organisation.
Level 2: The chief senior operational managerial position, which operates at the top
decision-making level and has under her/his responsibility budgetary control, overseeing programmes and editorial policy. The titles that may be covered under this level
are: Director-General, Executive Director, Editor-in-Chief or similar positions. The
person holding this position is likely to chair the most senior operational decision-making committee(s).
Level 3: The senior operational management positions, which operate as decision-makers and have oversight of specific programmes/media content and execution of
budgets. The titles that may be covered under this level are: Heads of Departments,
Acting Directors, Management team members or similar positions. These positions are
likely to be members of the operational decision-making committee(s).
Level 4: The managerial positions that entail responsibility for one of the main
operational units of the organisation — for example, television, radio, sports,
entertainment, news or significant areas of responsibility, e.g. digital services, finance,
HR. The titles that may be covered under this level are: Heads of Divisions which are
responsible for sub-areas: Head of News, Head of Sports, Head of Culture, Head of HR
and Head of a Management Unit, etc.
Source: EIGE Review of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in the EU Member States: Women
and the Media — Advancing gender equality in decision-making in media organisations http://eige.europa.eu/
content/document/advancing-gender-equality-in-decision-making-in-media-organisations-report

99

100

Colophon
Ministry of Education, Culture and
Science
P.O. Box 16375
2500 BJ The Hague
The Netherlands
The Hague, May 2014
Review Report of the Netherlands
Government in the context of the
twentieth anniversary of the
Fourth World Conference on Women and
the adoption of the Beijing Declaration
and Platform for Action.