Large majority of Dutch young people feel unsafe, including 83% of girls and young women

A large majority of Dutch young people feel unsafe in their daily lives, with girls and young women particularly affected, children’s rights organisation KidsRights found in a study involving 1,980 young people. "It comes as no surprise that this problem is more acute for women and girls: 83 percent of girls and women aged 12 to 29 regularly feel unsafe. That is shocking," chairman Marc Dullaert told AD.

“According to this study, fully half of all girls and women have encountered sexually transgressive behavior,” Dullaert said. “In addition, young people experience physical aggression (28 percent) and insults (47 percent); 16 percent are bullied online, and 9 percent see images of themselves shared without consent.”

The world is actively less safe for young people, Dullaert said. He referred to figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) showing that young people aged 15 to 25 are the most frequent victims of crime, 28 percent last year compared to around 14 percent of people over 65. “When it comes to violence, the gap is even wider: 12 percent of young people encounter it, compared to 2 percent of older people. Yet in our minds, we often perceive older people as being the ones at risk.”

The study showed that the majority of young people want things to change. “There should be more focus on mental safety - the sense of security in one’s daily life,” Dullaert said. “Many young people seem to sense that boundaries are becoming too blurred and that this is having a negative effect. This applies to both boys and girls.”

The former children’s ombudsman referred to two recent studies showing that Dutch people hold more negative views on women’s emancipation and that the acceptance of the LGBTQI+ community is declining. “This indicates that our tolerance and respect for others are diminishing significantly,” he said. “We are witnessing a shift in norms: our moral compass is simply broken.”

Dullaert called it important for parents to be aware of the severity of this problem and to talk to their children about it. “The same goes for schools: we discuss how traffic rules work - such as stopping when a traffic light turns orange - but we don’t talk about how to call each other out on unwanted behavior.” The government must also clearly convey what is and is not acceptable behavior, and ensure that there are consequences for unacceptable behavior, he added.

The KidsRights chairman is against a social media ban for young people. “Banning young people is not the solution, because the digital world is here to stay,” Dullaert said. “We must take action against platforms that allow hate speech. We have the tools to do so, such as fines and regulation. This needs to become a priority - and a matter of political will.”