European Institute for Gender Equality

Netherlands - Sexual Harassment

This resource includes the legal definitions of different types of gender-based violence used in EU Member States, according to their legal terminology and national legislation. It was last updated in 2019 and makes a reference to the United Kingdom as a member state of the European Union.

Content type: Legal definition
Country: Netherlands
Topics: Violence

Justice

Sexual harassment at work: in the Arbowet of 2007 the definition of sexual intimidation has disappeared, but it is seen as one of the factors that can lead to "psychosociale arbeidsbelasting", which literally means psychosocial labour presure. The Arbowet (lid 2, artikel 3) of 2007:“The employer will, in the general labour circumstances policy, have a policy dedicated to the prevention and, when this is not possible, the limitation of psychosocial labour pressure.“.

Observations

Sexual harassment outside the workplace is not criminalised as a separate offence in the Netherlands and is only prosecutable in criminal law if it fits other criminal statutes on sexual violence, which means that many of the sexual harassment outside the workplace does not meet criminal legal standards.