Child pornography laws in the Netherlands declare child pornography illegal, making it
one of the 103 out of 193 UN member states where it is illegal.
Dutch law referring to child pornography
According to the
Wetboek van Strafrecht:
* Article 240b,
number 1 prohibits the production, distribution, possession and sale of child pornography, and gaining access to it by means of the Internet. Maximum imprisonment is 4 years or a fine of the fifth category (€ 78,000).
* Article 240b,
number 2 prohibits committing crime, described under number 1 as a profession or as a habit. Maximum imprisonment is 8 years or a fine of the fifth category (€ 78,000).
In the Netherlands, the definition of child pornography is: pictures (photos and videos) of sexual acts of someone that ''seems to be'' younger than 18 years.
Chick-arrest
In 1970, the publication of sex magazine ''
Chick'' resulted in the Dutch "Chick-arrest" by the
Supreme Court of the Netherlands, which in turn led to the new Dutch moral law of 1971 that no longer criminally sanctioned pornography.
As a result, child pornography also became effectively legal and
Joop Wilhelmus started publishing child pornography magazine ''
Lolita
''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Humber ...
''.
1984 police raids
In 1984, a major police raid against child pornography occurred in the Netherlands. During the late 1970s, there had been media reports about the illicit trade, but there were few if any criminal investigations on the topic.
2002 legislation
On October 1, 2002, the
Netherlands
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, established_title = Before independence
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introduced legislation (''
Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 470'') which deemed "virtual child pornography" as illegal. An attempt to test the law came in 2007, when the public prosecutor opened investigations into
Second Life
''Second Life'' is an online multimedia platform that allows people to create an avatar for themselves and then interact with other users and user created content within a multi player online virtual world. Developed and owned by the San Fra ...
(the
US based virtual world).
A number of Second Life users engage in
sexual ageplay where their online
avatars
Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance ...
dress, act and look like underage children while engaging in virtual sexual acts. Although there is no Dutch law that legislates against under age depictions of sexual acts for computer generated images, the public prosecutor is investigating this on the basis that these virtual actions may incite child abuse in the real world.
So far this has not led to any successful prosecutions.
Significant rise in illegal websites
Press reports in 2008 described a large rise in the number of child pornography websites hosted in the Netherlands, increasing from 100 reports of sites in 2006 to 700 in 2007.
In 2020 the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
reported that in 2019 The Netherlands hosted 71% of the child sexual abuse material detected in Europe by the
Internet Watch Foundation
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) is a registered charity based in Cambridge, England. It states that its remit is "to minimise the availability of online sexual abuse content, specifically child sexual abuse images and videos hosted anywhe ...
, an increase from 47% in 2018.
See also
*
Laws regarding child pornography
Child pornography is illegal in most countries, but there is substantial variation in definitions, categories, penalties, and interpretations of laws. Differences include the definition of "child" under the laws, which can vary with the age of ...
**
Child pornography laws in Portugal Child pornography laws in Portugal state that such pornography is statutorily criminalised in the Portuguese Criminal Code.
Age of consent
The age of sexual consent in Portugal is, in principle, 14 years of age. The participation of underage pe ...
**
Child pornography laws in the United Kingdom
Child pornography laws in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are covered by the Protection of Children Act 1978 ("the 1978 Act"), which made it illegal to take, make, distribute, show, or possess for the intent of showing or distributing ...
**
Child pornography laws in Australia
Child pornography laws in Australia prohibit all sexual depictions of children under an age set by state and territory legislation. The relevant ages are under 16 in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Austral ...
**
Child pornography laws in Canada
Child pornography laws in Canada forbid the production, distribution, and possession of child pornography, which are punishable by up to 20 years' imprisonment or a fine of $5,000.
Visual and written representations
Prohibition covers the visual ...
**
Child pornography laws in the United States
Child pornography laws in the United States specify that child pornography is illegal under federal law and in all states and is punishable by up to 20 years' imprisonment or a fine of $5000. The Supreme Court of the United States has found child ...
**
Child pornography laws in Japan
The production, sale, distribution, and commercialization of child pornography in Japan is illegal under the ''Act on Punishment of Activities Relating to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and the Protection of Children'' (1999), and is pun ...
References
{{Pornography legality, state=collapsed
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
Law of the Netherlands
Childhood in the Netherlands