The Netherlands to Penalize Groups Silent on Reporting Sexual Abuse

Read also: French Pedophile Police Believe to Have Sexually Abused 305 Indonesian Children Arrested

The government has also requested that support network Slachtofferhulp Nederland (Victim Support Netherlands) broadens its services to specifically help victims of sexual abuse from closed communities.

Iva Bicanic, director of the Dutch-based Centre for Sexual Violence, said establishing a reporting point within communities for victims to come forward was a good initiative, but was unlikely to have an immediate and far-reaching impact.

"It's too simplistic to think that abuse within closed communities will immediately be reported," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"Much more is needed from within the community itself, it needs to agree to a whole new code of conduct." (Writer: Karolin Schaps, Thomson Reuters Foundation | Editor: Helen Popper)

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-netherlands-women-crime-trfn/netherlands-wants-to-punish-silence-on-sex-abuse-in-closed-communities-idUSKBN25O2IV