Nearly 16% of Dutch can justify a man hitting his wife
The number of Dutch people who consider it justifiable for a man to hit his wife has risen slightly, according to research on women’s emancipation conducted by the universities of Amsterdam and Tilburg. 15.8 percent of Dutch people consider this justifiable. The researchers also noticed a shift in attitudes regarding the gender pay gap. State Secretary Judith Tielen (responsible for gender equality; VVD) considers the findings shocking and very concerning.
“The trend remains the same,” said researcher Mark Boukes of the University of Amsterdam (UvA). “The number of people who believe it is never justifiable to hit one’s wife - in other words, the resistance to wife-beating - is declining.” In 2012, 88 percent of respondents held this view. By 2022, the figure had dropped to 87 percent, and now stands at just over 84 percent. The researchers called this trend concerning.
There are differences based on age and financial situation. Young people are less likely to condemn domestic violence than older people. “As expected, a more stable financial situation is associated with more progressive views, though only when individuals perceive their situation that way themselves,” the study found.
More Dutch people have also come to view it as a problem if women earn more than their male partners. While the study does not provide specific percentages on this point, there is a downward trend in the average scores, Boukes said.
Women also report feeling less safe and are particularly concerned about sexual harassment. The study cites the 2025 murder of 17-year-old Lisa as a possible reason for this shift.
Boukes attributes these developments to changing societal attitudes. The study also highlights the role of the “manosphere” and the attention paid to it. “Many societal changes are causing people to adopt more conservative views. This is also evident in the recently published report on the acceptance of homosexuality.”
In other areas, the Dutch still have a more positive outlook on gender equality. Attitudes toward abortion remain predominantly positive, though the level of support has not increased compared to the past.
Researchers question whether these trends will continue or prove temporary, noting that views have fluctuated over time in previous years. They advocate for sustained attention, both in public debate and policies regarding gender equality, to issues such as income, traditional gender roles, and women’s growing sense of insecurity.
The data were drawn from the Dutch component of the World Values Survey, a broad international study on public opinion. Researchers from the University of Amsterdam and Tilburg University analyzed responses from 2,500 Dutch adults, supplementing the findings with measurements taken since 2012.
State Secretary Judit Tielen called the findings shocking. “It shows that we still have a great deal of work to do to eradicate violence against women,” she said. “Views of this kind contribute to the emergence and persistence of violence against women.”
The central government collaborates with civil society initiatives to tackle violence against women, and Tielen stressed that this remains necessary “given the strong counter-forces from international conservative movements, including the ‘maonsphere’.”
“Due to the looming regression in gender equality and new developments affecting it, the foundation of gender equality needs strengthening,” Tielen said. Among other measures, she has commissioned research into the impact and spread of anti-gender narratives and how these relate to the manosphere and other extremist movements, including religious ones. Additionally, Judit Kuypers was appointed the National Coordinator for Violence against Women and Domestic Violence on September 14.
It was recently revealed that the Netherlands had dropped from 43rd to 46th place in the global gender equality rankings; previously, the country had held the 28th spot. Shortly after that study, a report by the Trimbos Institute and Utrecht University showed that young people have developed much more negative views regarding homosexuality. Researchers found that the percentage of secondary school boys with a positive attitude toward homosexuality has nearly halved over the past four years, falling from 40 percent to 22 percent.