At least 12 cases of child torture in Netherlands

In the Netherlands, there have been at least 12 cases of children being so severely abused that it is classified as child torture, NOS reports after studying court rulings on child abuse over the past five years. The recent cases of a Vlaardingen girl being so abused by her foster parents that she is permanently disabled and two Stadskanaal children tortured by their mothers are recent examples of this.

What separates child abuse from child torture is the severity. Child abuse often involves neglect and incompetence. Child torture involves intent and deriving pleasure from having power over a child. The Dutch cases involved abuse like locking them up, tying them down, strangling them, and forcing them to drink urine or eat their own vomit.

The abused children are often still young, almost always under the age of 14. For some, the abuse started at birth. In some cases, it lasted for ten years. In addition to physical abuse, each of these children also faced psychological abuse, including name-calling, humiliation, threats with a firearm, and monitoring with cameras.

“It is a blind spot in the Netherlands,” clinical psychologist Leony Coppens told NOS. “Research has been conducted in the United States for a long time. They have a better understanding of the types of families where children are tortured and how to detect it. In the Netherlands, there is insufficient knowledge and insight into situations of child torture. We don’t even know how often it occurs.”

Coppens expects the actual number of child torture cases in the Netherlands to be higher. There are several child torture cases still pending, and some may not have reached the authorities yet. “It is probably the tip of the iceberg,” she said. “From American research, we know that perpetrators of this form of abuse are very good at hiding it. We also know that children who experience this are often not believed if they dare to speak out.”

From the Dutch cases, NOS found that schools play an important role in detecting child torture. In cases where the child attended school, indications of abuse had almost always come to light. For example, with the Stadskanaal girl, the school had filed reports with the domestic violence institution Veilig Thuis and with the family doctor. The school of a tortured child in a family home in Niekerk alerted the authorities when the child came to school with a dog bite.

“Children confide in their teacher first,” Coppens said. “Teachers are generally familiar with reporting signs of abuse, but they need more knowledge and skills to feel more competent in this area.”

In addition to the school, neighbors also play a role in stopping abuse. This happened in four of the 12 cases.

The Vlaardingen girl’s case is particularly shocking because care providers have been involved with the child for a long time and failed to intervene. In other cases, too, the abuse continued while youth care organizations were involved. In three cases, one or more reports had been filed with Veilig Thuis. Child Protection was involved in one case.