Sexual Violence Programme
Many women and men in the Netherlands have experienced some sort of sexual violence (34% and 6% respectively), varying from harassment to rape. Depending on the severity of the assault, victims are likely to develop emotional problems, such as post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression. Moreover, they have an increased risk of becoming a victim again (revictimization). Prevention of sexual violence is therefore very important.
Cooperation between organisations and professionals is essential. Expert centres Rutgers Nisso Groep, MOVISIE and FIOM initiated the partnership “Action plan sexual violence”. In this partnership expert centres and professional organizations in the field work together to improve the prevention and counselling practice in the Netherlands.
Besides our contribution to prevention and counselling, research is an ongoing core activity. We do qualitative and quantitative studies on extent and characteristics of sexual violence in several populations and contexts, investigate the effectiveness of interventions (evidence based), explore risk factors for sexual violence, study phenomena such as cyber abuse and transactional sex, etcetera. Examples of recent studies are the prevalence of sexual harassment in the Dutch army and the police force, sexualisation in the Netherlands and its consequences, sexual violence in recreational organizations, and determinants of unwanted sexual behaviour among adolescents.
With our programme Sexual Violence & Harassment, we intend to enhance the body of knowledge, and to develop and contribute to prevention and counselling programmes. Besides violence that is sexual in nature, we also focus on gender based violence in general and violence that is directed at somebody’s sexuality. Therefore, different subjects such as female genital mutilation, prostitution and homonegative behaviour are also within the scope of our interest.
