Child pornography laws in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, child pornography is illegal, making it one of the 103 out of 193 UN member states where it is illegal.

Dutch law referring to child pornography

According to the Wetboek van Strafrecht:

  • Article 252 prohibits the production, distribution, possession and sale of child pornography, and gaining access to it by means of the Internet. Maximum imprisonment is 6 years or a fine of the fifth category (€ 82,000).[1]
  • Article 254 prohibits committing crime, described under number 1 as a profession or as a habit, increasing the base sentence of 6 years by another 3 years.[2]

In the Netherlands, the definition of child pornography is "a visual display of a sexual nature, or with an unmistakable sexual scope in which a person who seemingly has not yet reached the age of eighteen years old.[1]

Chick-arrest

Main articles: Joop Wilhelmus § Chick, and Joop Wilhelmus § Lolita

In 1970, the publication of sex magazine Chick resulted in the Dutch "Chick-arrest" by the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, which in turn led to the new Dutch moral law of 1971 that no longer criminally sanctioned pornography.[3] As a result, child pornography also became effectively legal and Joop Wilhelmus started publishing child pornography magazine Lolita.[4][5][6][7]

1984 police raids

In 1984, a major police raid against child pornography occurred in the Netherlands. During the late 1970s, there had been media reports about the illicit trade, but there were few if any criminal investigations on the topic.[8]

2002 legislation

On October 1, 2002, the Netherlands introduced legislation (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 470) which deemed "virtual child pornography" as illegal.[9] An attempt to test the law came in 2007, when the public prosecutor opened investigations into Second Life (the US based virtual world).[10] A number of Second Life users engage in sexual ageplay where their online avatars dress, act and look like underage children while engaging in virtual sexual acts. Although there is no Dutch law that legislates against under age depictions of sexual acts for computer generated images, the public prosecutor is investigating this on the basis that these virtual actions may incite child abuse in the real world.[11] So far this has not led to any successful prosecutions.

Significant rise in illegal websites

Press reports in 2008 described a large rise in the number of child pornography websites hosted in the Netherlands, increasing from 100 reports of sites in 2006 to 700 in 2007.[12]

In 2020, the European Commission reported that in 2019, the Netherlands hosted 71% of the child porn detected in Europe by the Internet Watch Foundation, an increase from 47% in 2018.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Wetboek van Strafrecht, artikel 252".
  2. ^ "Wetboek van Strafrecht, artikel 252".
  3. ^ Dutch Senate (2 July 1985). "Dutch Senate referencing the Chick-arrest" (in Dutch). Staten-Generaal Digitaal. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  4. ^ Howitt, Dennis; Sheldon, Kerry (2007). Sex Offenders and the Internet. John Wiley & Sons. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-470-02800-1.
  5. ^ Beetstra, Tjalling (2009). Van kwaad tot erger. De sociale constructie van satanisch ritueel misbruik in de Verenigde Staten en Nederland [From Bad to Worse. The Social Construction of Satanic Ritual Abuse in the United States and the Netherlands] (Thesis) (in Dutch). Datawyse/Universitaire Pers Maastricht.
  6. ^ Van der Ploeg, Jan; De Groot, Roel, eds. (2010). "6.4 Is pedoseksualiteit schadelijk?" [6.4 Is Pedosexuality Harmful?]. Kindermishandeling: een complex probleem [Child Abuse: A Complex Problem] (in Dutch). Antwerpen: Garant. p. 110. ISBN 9789044125771.
  7. ^ Tate, Tim (1990). Child Pornography: An Investigation. Methuen Publishing. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-413-61540-4.
  8. ^ Schuijer, Jan; Rossen, Benjamin (1992). "The Trade in Child Pornography". IPT Journal. 4. Institute for Psychological Therapies. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  9. ^ Justitie (1 October 2002). Retrieved January 20, 2006. Archived April 19, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ Libbenga, Jan (21 February 2007). "Dutch demand ban of virtual child porn in Second Life". The Register. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  11. ^ "Virtual child porn may be a crime in Netherlands". Reuters. 21 February 2007. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  12. ^ "Explosive rise in child porn websites". DutchNews.nl. 11 April 2008. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  13. ^ "Increased amount of child sexual abuse material detected in Europe". ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 2022-03-12.