Country Profile The Netherlands

General Country Information

Summary

The Netherlands does not have a national women’s helpline although there is a helpline for all survivors of domestic violence and child abuse which is available 24/7 and free of charge. There are also other helplines that can support women survivors of violence, including regional helplines that are run by four women-only shelter organisations. There are 20 women-only shelters with 986 beds as well as other shelters accessible to women, although the exact number is not known. There are no specialised women’s centres in the Netherlands, however, all 20 women-only shelters also provide non-residential support. There are services for survivors of sexualised violence, including 16 rape crisis centres which operate as Sexual Assault Centres. Public authorities in the Netherlands do not collect data on primary prevention activities on a national level and there are no official national documents on primary prevention. A definition of primary prevention is included in the Plan “Stop Femicide!” although no specific budget is allocated to such activities. The state collects limited data on women’s specialist services in order to monitor the impact and spending of public funding to those services. Data is also collected nationally by some networks and is made publicly available.

Women’s Specialist Services

There is no national women’s helpline in the Netherlands, but there is a national helpline for domestic violence and child abuse, Safe Home (Veilig Thuis, tel.: +31 8002000) since 2015. While the helpline is available 24/7 and is free of charge, it provides support to all survivors of violence as well as for professionals who want to report cases of child abuse and/or domestic violence. Therefore, the Netherlands does not meet the Istanbul Convention standards for the provision of a national women’s helpline. Safe Home operates from a predominantly gender-neutral framework, although awareness of the gender-based nature of violence has increased over the last two years. The helpline is an initiative of the Dutch government and was originally formed by merging the former Advice and Report Offices on Child Abuse and the former Support Centres on Domestic Violence. The 25 offices of Veilig Thuis work under a national helpline number and are run by regional NGOs who know the local networks and can refer survivors to the appropriate services. In three regions, Veilig Thuis is closely related to/part of a women’s shelter organisation. There is the possibility to use the national interpretation centre, which is funded by the state and decentralised via municipalities, to receive support in any language when calling the helpline. The National Network of Women’s Shelters, Valente, has been and still is campaigning for an independent women’s helpline, supported by the Federation of Surviving Victims of Violence (Federatie Nabestaanden van Geweldsslachtoffers), Fier and several other women’s organisations. In 2024, the 25 offices of Veilig Thuis collectively received 153,910 requests for advice and 129,220 reports on various forms of domestic violence. In total, Veilig Thuis received 232,724 calls. The most common forms of violence reported by callers in 2024 were domestic violence, physical violence, and violence directly/indirectly affecting children.

There are other helplines in the Netherlands that can support women survivors of violence, including regional helplines that are run by four women-only shelter organisations, which are available 24/7 in cases of emergency. These include Fier (tel.: +31 882080000), Strong House (Sterk Huis, tel.: +31 8008013), Stay Group (Blijf Groep, tel.: +31 882342450), and Moviera (tel.: +31 883744744).

There are 20 women-only shelters in the Netherlands with 986 beds for women and their children.² There are also 38 beds for male survivors of domestic violence, also operated by women-only shelters, but in different locations. As reliable data on the number of beds in women-only shelters has been lacking for years, Valente and the National Association of Municipalities (VNG) took the initiative to develop a national monitoring of shelters, financed by the Ministry of Health. The monitor provides data on the number of beds available, the duration of stay as well as some additional information. One of the aims of this project is to be better able to assess the need for more beds based on the monitoring of experiences and demand over time.³ There are large differences between municipalities in terms of the number of women-only shelter beds per inhabitant. Interestingly, three of the four largest cities (Amsterdam, Utrecht, Rotterdam and The Hague) have more beds than the average in the Netherlands. This also applies to some smaller municipalities near those four cities. In 2023, 20 women-only shelter bed spaces were added in the Netherlands; this is equivalent to a 2% expansion of the total national amount. These shelters are all part of Valente, and every region has emergency or acute crisis beds available 24/7 for one to three nights. In general, most women-only shelters can be accessed 24/7.

Women are expected to pay for their accommodation in women-only shelters, these costs are however paid for through social welfare/income from benefits which the women-only shelters help survivors receive from the municipalities in order to pay for their expenses as well as those of their children. Women who already have (enough) income from their salary or other means must cover the costs for accommodation from their income. In no case are the shelter accommodation costs a barrier to accessing women-only shelters. If a woman is undocumented or has an irregular legal status, the costs are covered by the municipality and/or it is accepted as a ‘loss of income’ on the budget of the women-only shelter by the municipality, although these arrangements differ between regions. On average, women can stay in women-only shelters for three to six months. Averages can however vary depending on services provided by different shelters as well as specific funding conditions of municipalities. Based on the recent monitoring of women-only shelters (figures from 2022/2023), women stay in emergency beds on average 12 days, 64 days in crisis shelter beds, and 259 days in shelter beds for longer stays (approx. eight months). The types of in-house services most often provided by women-only shelters are counselling, referrals and practical advice. Counselling and support in enhancing safety and minimising risks of recurring violence are the basis of all services, as well as working with other specialised services to diminish risk factors.

All women-only shelters can be accessed by and are accessible to refugee women, women with cognitive disabilities and/or sensory disabilities, older women (65 years and above), transgender women, women with older sons (14 years and above), and women with children with disabilities. Most shelters are equipped to support women with uncertain residence permits/undocumented women, women with physical disabilities, and women with substance abuse issues. Some shelters can accommodate homeless women and unaccompanied girls under the age of 18. Additionally, some members of Valente offer specialised shelter facilities for undocumented women and LGBTQI+ people. There are specialised shelters for women survivors of trafficking and for women and girl survivors of honour-based violence. All shelters accept women that have been in marital captivity⁴ if there is acute violence and/or safety concerns.

Funding for women-only shelters comes from the state and all shelters are run by women’s NGOs with a gender-specific and feminist approach. Thirty-five centre municipalities have been appointed that collaborate with the other regional municipalities in their area in the Netherlands. These centre municipalities receive financial resources from the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport which then goes (indirectly) to the women-only shelters. Centre and regional municipalities can, and in the majority of cases do, contribute extra funding to the women-only shelters for ambulatory care and sometimes for more beds and other services. With increasing living costs, there is a rising concern that funding used for women-only shelters might also be used for other purposes or go to other organisations in the field of domestic violence, such as non-specialist services. There are women-only shelters in all regions, some shelter organisations have more than one location and cover several regions, while others have just one location. The three main reasons for having to decline referrals to women-only shelters were no space to support the survivor, no capacity to support the survivor with her children, and the survivor being ineligible for support. Spaces in shelters are generally reserved for the most complex and unsafe situations; non-residential specialised services have been developed to assist women who want to escape their abusive situation but have other options than going to a women-only shelter. A safety assessment is always conducted to determine whether this is a safe option. The most common types of violence reported by survivors in 2024 were intimate partner violence, often combined with patterns of stalking, and a mix of physical, psychological, and sexualised violence. Due to the policy of reserving shelter beds for the most complex and unsafe situations, coercive control involving different forms of (domestic) violence are usually reported in women-only shelters. In 2023, 2,934 women and 2,622 children were accommodated in women-only shelters.⁵

There are other shelters in the Netherlands which can support survivors of violence, most of which offer 24/7 access. This includes three shelter organisations which participate in the meetings of the National Network of Women’s Shelters and provide shelter accommodation for families, women and children, and people from the LGBTIQ+ community that have lost their house/living arrangement due to family issues, sometimes linked to (risks of) domestic violence. The exact number of beds is not known or monitored. There are also more organisations that provide shelter accommodation specifically for women, girls and men as well as boys survivors of human trafficking (criminal or labour exploitation). The exact number of such shelters is not known, although specific research on the number of beds for survivors of human trafficking is expected in late 2025.

All of the 20 women-only shelter organisations which are members of Valente provide both residential and non-residential services, such as individual or group counselling. All services are predominantly but not exclusively for women that experience domestic violence. Most centres also offer services to male survivors of domestic violence and LGBTQI+ survivors, and some also offer services to survivors of human trafficking. All women’s centres offer counselling and psychological support as well as referrals and collaboration with other services. Most centres do not provide legal advice themselves but inform survivors about specialist legal services in the area with whom they collaborate, and this also goes for financial and social welfare support and housing advice. Only a limited number of centres offer services or programs on employment, as structural funding for these programs is limited.

All centres can be accessed by and are accessible to refugee women, women with physical disabilities, cognitive disabilities, and/or sensory disabilities, older women (65 years and above) and transgender women. Some centres are equipped to support unaccompanied girls under the age of 18. Most of the women’s support centres are open to women from different groups and have received specialised training to work for example with elderly women (or men) and women with cognitive disabilities. Some have set up special consultation hours for specific groups, but a complete overview of specialised support offered is lacking. There are two specialised centres for survivors of honour-based violence as well as a specialist unit for case management, all other centres provide first care and risk assessment on all forms of domestic violence including honour-based violence. The National Contact Point for Forced Marriage and Abandonment (Landelijk Knooppunt Huwelijksdwang en Achterlating) is a specialised centre which exists since 2015 and provides information, advice and support for professionals dealing with cases of forced marriage and abandonment. This centre collaborates with both women-only shelters (if shelter is needed upon return in the Netherlands after abandonment), the national helpline and other relevant stakeholders.

All or most of the funding for women’s centres comes from the appointed 35 centre municipalities, a (modest and varying) amount comes from donations by foundations and trusts and is generally aimed at specific projects. In the Dutch decentralised system, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport finances 35 municipalities that provide women-only shelters as well as non-residential services offered by women’s centres. The 35 centre municipalities collaborate with the other municipalities in their region and have a coordinating role. Both centre and regional municipalities contribute extra funding to the women’s shelters for their non-residential support services. All centres are run by women’s NGOs and are located in all regions of the Netherlands. Based on data from the annual reports of some of the largest members of Valente, it can be estimated that approximately 10,000 women are supported yearly by the 20 women’s centres, with rather large margins between the larger member organisations that can support up to 1,800 women a year and the smaller ones that might support only 20 to 40 a year.

There are services for women and girls who have experienced sexualised violence in the Netherlands, including 16 rape crisis centres that operate as Sexual Assault Centres. Support offered includes specialist forensic and medical care, needs assessment, specialist psychological care, specialist sexualised violence advocacy services, community awareness and education for prevention, and legal advice. All centres run their own regional specialised helpline (tel.: +31 8000188). At the Sexual Assault Centres, a team of doctors, nurses, police officers, psychologists, social workers and sex therapists work together to provide specialist care to survivors of sexual assault and rape. Ideally, help is provided within seven days after the event, as this timeframe reduces the chances of medical and psychological issues considerably and gives police a better chance of finding the perpetrator if forensic investigations are carried out. Survivors are met by a (forensic) nurse who will stay with them for the duration of their visit. Services are provided in such a way that survivors do not need to repeat their story more than necessary. The Sexual Assault Centres are coordinated nationally; the national office also develops tools and policies that apply to all of the 16 centres. Funding for sexualised violence support services comes from the state and they are located in all regions. Services are available to all survivors of sexualised violence, including non-residents visiting the Netherlands.

There is no comprehensive data collection on primary prevention activities in the Netherlands and there are no official national documents on primary prevention. A definition of primary prevention is included in chapter two of the Plan “Stop Femicide!”⁶ as well as a list of primary prevention activities undertaken by different ministries. A coherent strategy and the impact of these initiatives in relation to each other and of efforts in different domains is however lacking. The prevention of sexualised violence is the core of the National Action Plan on Sexual Transgressive Behaviour and Sexual Violence (2022-2026). A Government Commissioner was appointed by the Ministers of Education, Culture and Science and of Social Affairs and Employment in 2022, who is pushing for a preventive approach in the National Action Plan on Sexual Transgressive Behaviour and Sexual Violence.

There is no specific budget nor for the execution of the Plan “Stop Femicide!” nor for primary prevention activities. A budget has been allocated to the Commissioner on Tackling Sexually Transgressive Behaviour and Sexual Violence, and the four participating Ministries invest on preventive measures from their regular budgets and some project funding. Smaller women’s organisations have argued that the funding requirements from these alliances are such that they can hardly participate in those tenders. Budgets on regional and local levels allocated to primary prevention vary and are not structurally embedded, meaning they are subject to local political changes. Available primary prevention activities include feminist self-defence trainings, empowerment activities for girls and women, primary prevention activities specifically targeted to men and boys, school-based primary prevention programmes, bystander intervention training, and awareness-raising campaigns or programmes. There is no structural evaluation of the impact of primary prevention activities, only small-scale reports and evaluation but data on this is not collected or assessed in a thorough manner.

1. This includes only the number of beds in women-only shelters. ↩︎
2. These figures are based on the years 2022 and 2023. The numbers for 2024 will be available only in 2026. ↩︎
3. This monitoring was published for the first time in 2025 (with data from 2022 and 2023) and is scheduled to repeat every year. ↩︎
4. Marital captivity is a situation in which a woman in a religious marriage needs her husband’s permission to divorce him, but he refuses to cooperate. In these situations, a secular court may have dissolved the civil marriage, but the religious marriage continues to exist. As long as the wife is tied to her religious marriage, she is seriously hampered in her participation in society. Marital captivity often occurs jointly with other forms of both domestic and honour-related violence. The organisation Femme for Freedom has more information available here: https://www.femmesforfreedom.com/international/what-is-mari-
   tal-captivity. ↩︎
5. Exact figures for 2024 are not available but according to Valente, in 2024 shelters accommodated 3,434 women and men (with over 90% being women) and 2,615 children. ↩︎
6. Available here: https://open.overheid.nl/documenten/7428c2b8-01fb-4ff9-99d2-a86b789daf39/file ↩︎