NIOD brings concealed sexual violence in camps to light
New research describes structural and widespread sexual violence against women in Dutch internment camps after liberation.
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NIOD has published new research into sexual violence against women in Dutch internment camps after the Second World War. According to the institute, historical sources point to structural and widespread violence, while many testimonies remained out of view for a long time.
The research concerns the camps where, after liberation, people suspected of collaboration were detained. The sources contain statements from women who experienced serious sexual violence after their arrest. NIOD stresses the scale and recurring nature of the violence, without pretending that all cases can be fully quantified.
The researchers used, among other things, interrogation reports from the first post-war years. These documents formed part of research into special jurisdiction and the treatment of people suspected of collaborating with the German occupier. According to NIOD, the sources show that the violence was not limited to a few isolated incidents.
The publication also makes clear why the subject is only receiving broad attention so late. Many statements did enter the archives, but they were not given a prominent place in post-war historiography. As a result, women’s experiences in the camps remained underexposed alongside the familiar story of the arrests, head-shaving and prosecution of collaborators.
The research does not say that every statement can be independently proven. Interrogation reports are historical sources with their own context and must be read alongside other documents. The researchers therefore present their conclusion as a reconstruction of patterns in the available archival material, not as a complete count of all victims.
The new publication changes the picture of the period after liberation. The transition from war to peace did not mean that legal protection and oversight were immediately restored everywhere. In closed camps, abuse of power, humiliation and sexual violence could continue while victims had few opportunities to be heard.
In the publication, NIOD calls for further research into the role of camp guards, government bodies and post-war accountability mechanisms. For relatives and historians, the research may raise new questions about recognition and the way the Netherlands has dealt with this history. In this publication, the institute does not comment on individual criminal liability today.
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The article’s central claims are supported by NIOD and a current NOS source. Uncertainties about numbers and individual responsibility are explicitly bounded.
- confirmed NIOD published research on 14 October 2026 into sexual violence against women in post-war internment camps. — Mentioned in the current NIOD publication and the NOS summary. source
- confirmed The research describes the violence as structural and widespread. — This is stated in the title and summary of the NOS source. source
- confirmed The researchers used, among other things, post-war interrogation reports. — NOS describes the research as being based on historical archival material and interrogations. source