Lower House seeks simpler process for reporting sexual violence
A motion calls for consultation with victims and a pilot of a digital, standardised intake for reports and formal complaints.
The Lower House debated a proposal on Tuesday to improve the process surrounding reports of and formal complaints about sexual violence. Among other things, the motion calls for a pilot in which victims and police officers use a digital intake process.
The motion by Bente Becker, co-signed by Ingrid Coenradie and Wieke Paulusma, was submitted on 21 September during a committee debate on care for victims of sexual violence. The proposal asks the government to involve victims in improving the process.
According to the motion, victims currently face bureaucracy, arbitrariness or having to tell the same story repeatedly. The sponsors therefore want a digital, standardised intake process to be tested. It should support officers and give victims greater clarity about the next steps.
The motion also links the pilot to the criminal justice outcome. According to its sponsors, a better process could increase the likelihood that cases are investigated thoroughly and that perpetrators are prosecuted and convicted. That is an objective of the motion, not an established effect of a digital intake process.
A report of the debate states that the police are already working on a more victim-focused approach. This includes, among other things, a front office of the Team Seksuele Misdrijven. According to the ministerial explanation, investment has also been made in the staffing of sexual offences teams to tackle caseloads and longer processing times.
The volume of incoming cases remains a concern. In the first half of 2026, the police registered 6,228 incidents of sexual violence, according to the report of the debate. In nearly 1,700 cases, the victim also filed a report with the police. Those figures do not directly indicate how many cases lead to prosecution or conviction.
The government has also announced that, from 2027, it will provide Centra Seksueel Geweld with an additional €2 million a year. The money is intended to further strengthen support for victims. A better intake process can improve access, but cannot by itself solve capacity problems, evidential difficulties and lengthy criminal proceedings.
The official Lower House page shows that the motion was on Tuesday afternoon's voting agenda. When this edition closed, no result was yet visible on the page. It is therefore not yet possible to establish whether the Lower House formally called on the government to launch the pilot.
One story, several perspectives
What is established
- A Lower House motion calls for improvements to the process for reporting sexual violence and filing a formal complaint.
- The motion identifies a digital, standardised intake process as a possible pilot.
- According to the report of the debate, the police are already working on a more victim-focused approach.
- In the first half of 2026, the police registered 6,228 incidents of sexual violence.
Left
Arguments Victims should receive help and access to justice without additional bureaucratic barriers. The government should invest in specialist support, independent guidance and sufficient capacity, even if that requires sustained funding.
Values Accessibility, recovery and victim protection.
Consequences More support could increase reporting and trust, but requires continued public funding.
Centre
Arguments A standardised intake process can help, provided there remains room for individual circumstances and human judgement. The pilot should be evaluated for privacy, ease of use, processing time and the quality of investigations.
Values Carefulness, feasibility and legal protection.
Consequences A controlled trial could deliver improvements without immediately overhauling the entire system.
Right
Arguments The process must take victims seriously, while also ensuring reliable evidence and fair treatment of suspects. Digitalisation must not lead to automatic assumptions or additional administrative burdens for detectives.
Values Legal certainty, responsibility and effective investigation.
Consequences Tight procedures can improve the quality of cases, but must not become so rigid that individual tailoring disappears.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
Fact-check Approved with corrections · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The motion and the figures cited can be verified. The text makes no statement about the motion's adoption because the public voting page showed no result.
- confirmed The motion was submitted on 21 September 2026. — This is stated on the official Lower House page. source
- confirmed The motion calls for consultation with victims and a digital intake pilot. — Both requests appear literally in the text of the motion. source
- confirmed The police were already working on a victim-focused approach and a front office. — This is stated in the report of the committee debate. source
- confirmed In the first half of 2026, 6,228 incidents were registered and a formal complaint was filed in nearly 1,700 cases. — These figures are mentioned in the report of the debate. source
- confirmed From 2027, the government will provide Centra Seksueel Geweld with an additional €2 million a year. — This is stated in a publication by the Government of the Netherlands. source
- uncertain The motion was adopted. — The voting agenda confirms that the motion was on the agenda, but the consulted page shows no result. source
1 correction(s) applied
- Was: The Lower House has decided to launch a digital intake pilot.Now: The motion calls for a digital intake pilot; the result of the vote could not be confirmed. (The public voting page gave no result.)
Editor's note
The content of the motion, the existing improvements and the figures on reports have been confirmed. The result of the vote on 29 September was not visible when the consulted public Lower House page closed.Sources
- Motie over verbetering van het proces van melding en aangifte — Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal
- Stemmingen dinsdag 29 september 2026 — Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal
- Verslag initiatiefnota zorg voor slachtoffers seksueel geweld — OpenTK
- Kabinet zet in op gezondheid en op zorg die klaar is voor de toekomst — Rijksoverheid
More on this in Dutch media
- NOS — „seksueel geweld”
- Het Parool — „seksueel geweld”
- Trouw — „seksueel geweld”