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Generalia
A fact unique worldwide, two Dutch
Foundations have specifically argued for research on sexuality development:
the Dr. F. Bernard Foundation[1],
An illustrative trial in the early 1960s involved the case of a writer sentenced to the payment of 25 guilders (roughly $10) for having published “pornography” with his books Bob en Daphne, mentioning child and early adolescent sexual explorations[3].
A number of authorities remark that the notorious libertarian status of the Dutch is currently eroding under the weight of Americanism. A contemporary impression by author Hekma (2004)[4]:
“Most Dutch believe the media should restrain the explicitness of sexual imagery, or only show it late at night when children have gone to bed. Erotic advertising is often criticised because it unnecessarily insults orthodox christian and muslim women and endangers the innocence of kids while the reverse is never brought forward, for example that it is healthy for young people to loose their innocence. [...] The romantic idea of the "innocence" of children is so much venerated because it stands in strong opposition to the supposed filthiness and wickedness of sex. As this innocence is the reverse of carnal knowledge, it is misplaced in modern times. Children need sex education in a sexualized society. The hope that love should turn out to be non-violent, did not withstand a reality of sexual violence that continued to be a side-effect of pleasure in both repressive and tolerant times. [...] With a rare unanimous vote, parliament raised in 2002 the age of consent from 12 to 16 while children become erotic beings at always earlier ages and are often quite happy to loose their innocence even before. Dutch society is not opposed to sexual expressions, but does very little to enhance them, or to move on from a monosexual, that is heterosexual, culture to one that is multisexual or polyamorous, or open to diversity in passionate and loving relations”.
Schalet
(1994, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2006)[5]
found that US parents describe this issue as a biologically driven,
individually based activity that causes disruption to the teenager and the
family. Dutch parents, by contrast, emphasize love relationships and social
responsibility of teenagers, making their sexuality a “normal” phenomenon.
Studies
Some scholars have interested themselves in the surveying of the literature (Winkel, 1972[6]; Sandfort, 1984[7]; Zuyderland, 1992[8]; Van der Zanden, 1992[9]; Gruental Klestadt, 1993a,b[10]; De Graaf & Rademakers, 2003)[11].
Rademakers[12] with Straver report on a study on the sexual-relational development of girls using a social interactionist perspective. Van der Mede (1983)[13] reports on a questionnaire study on the sexual behaviour of 594 freshmen students in biomedical majors. Vogels and Van der Vliet (1990)[14] conducted a major study of sexual behaviour among 11.500 boys and girls aged 11 to 19 years. The study was replicated in 1995[15]. A large study using an adaptation of the CSBI was conducted in 1990 by Cohen-Kettenis and Sandfort (1991)[16], and another on toddlers by Oostveen et al. (1994)[17]. Drenth and Slob (1997)[18] only include data on childhood sexual behaviour of the former study. In the latter study, “adult” sexual behaviour (defined as behaviour that would be demonstrated “by adults rather than children”, p2203) was incidental. In the former study, reporting on parents of children aged 0-11, with a mean of 4, “sexual permissiveness” was measured by attitudes on four situations that seem to be related to adolescent sexuality. In 1974, Hartskeerl[19] found that 90% of questioned parents disapproved of sexual games between children and 62% are opposed to the idea of childhood masturbation. An equivalent survey was done by Corstjens[20]. Incidental studies on “body experience” were performed before 1990 (De Bruyn, 1972[21]; Van den Ende-de Monchy, 1980, 1984[22]; Laan, 1994)[23]. In the study by Laan, 31 eight- and nine-year-olds were interviewed on their experience of intimacy in physical contact. Hagens and Leeuwenburgh (1999)[24] performed semi-structured interviews on 71 elementary school students in the ages of 7 and 8 along with parental questionnaires. Brilleslijper-Kater (1995)[25] studied sexual knowledge before age seven. Van Halteren and Van Dij (1983)[26] questioned teachers on the relationship of sexuality and immigrant children. De Bruin (1997)[27] reports on a study using 35 psychiatric and 25 control children aged 7-13 to study sexual interest in relation to Antisocial Conduct Disorder.
Some informal discussions with children and parents were videotaped in the eighties[28]. More qualitative material is found in discussions with children in school setting[29]. Staffeleu[30] videotaped some 40 children aged 8-13, including ethnic minority children, while interviewed on a rather extensive range of sexual issues (not excluding SM, etc.) [raising some methodological questions, data await presentation, DJ.] In the mean time, Kuik (2001, 2003)[31] argues: “Adults like to think of the age group under study [11-12] as innocent children to whom sexuality is still quite irrelevant. However, these young children grow up in an urban environment, where one finds sexuality in many different forms very much present on practically every street corner. They have easy access to teen magazines, and other media (movies, TV, Internet)”.
In a 1981 national survey[32] it appeared that less than half of adults of both sexes thought children before age eight had “sexual feelings”. Only 5% of both sexes expressed the tendency to “suppress” rather than stimulate it, with [significant?] sex and cohort differences.
Additional refs.:
· Ninjatten, C. (1997) Tales of ordinary badness- sexuality in Dutch child welfare discourse, Am J Forensic Psychia 18,2:97 et seq.; ·
Sandfort, Th. (1988) Het Belang van
de Ervaring. Dissertation, ·
Sandfort, Th. (1989) Seksuele Ervaringen
van Kinderen: Betekenis en Effect voor Later.
Historical Notes
A
noteworthy early historiographic account of courtship practices and morals
was provided by De Roever[33].
A historical impression of 20th century sexual norms using sexual
reform magazines was provided by Nieuwkerk[34].
A Dutch history of masturbation was offered by Hekma and by Pesch[35].
By the end of the 18th century, a rather extensive body of advise literature on
matrimonial matters seemed to have been available for “young adults” from the
age of 14-15 (Van Tilburg, 1998[36];
also Rang, 2002)[37]. Providing a thorough historical analysis of Dutch sexual
socialisation, Röling (1990, 1993, 1994)[38]
observes how, as a result of the process of modernisation, it became harder
for society to maintain the ideal of the sexually innocent child, an idea
that had evolved in the early 19th century. By the 1890’s, many people in the
Bois-Reymond (1992)[39] uses verbal accounts of early 20th century familial sexual education. In the medical practice of the 1930s masturbation was seen as normal but during “latency”, it still remained an “important complaint” warranting an extensive psychic investigation of the child”[40]. During
the 1960s and 1970s it became accepted for adolescents in the
Today, “although most parents express their intention to guide their children during their sexual development in an active and communicative way, their own restrictive sexual education, feelings of shame and the respect they have for the private lives of their children, are all standing in the way. In spite of the idea of the adolescents that they can always count on their parents, they do not address their parents as communication partners. Feelings of shame, together with the definition of sexuality as their own domain, frustrate an open communication”[43].
Additional refs.:
· Bedaux, J. B. (1988) Gebreidelde lust: uitbeeldingen van seksuele moraal op Nederlandse kinderportretten uit de 17e eeuw, in Bremmer, J. (Ed.) Van Sappho tot De Sade: Momenten in de Geschiedenis van de Seksualiteit. Amsterdam: Wereldbibliotheek, p59-67 ·
Pol, L. van de (1988) Seksualiteit tussen middeleeuwen en moderne
tijd, in Peeters, H., Dresden-Coenders, L. & Brandenbarg, T. (Eds.) Vijf Eeuwen Gezinsleven.
Legal Issues
The Napoleonic law, which was in effect from
1811 onward, did not impose consent legislation[44].
The 1886 Penal Code set the age of sexual consent at age 16, which was joined
with a homosexual age of consent of Theo Sandfort offered controversial material on Dutch children in “paedophilic relationships” in the late 1970s, and wrote many monographs and articles on related subjects. His work became recently the focus of a legal battle over the academic nature of Sandfort’s 1988 findings initiated by an erotic magazine by the name Penthouse[46]. A 2003 legal update:
“The Act lifting the restriction on brothels (Wet Opheffing Bordeelverbod) has been in force since 1 October 2000. This act is an attempt to regulate the sex industry. At the same time, it prohibits underage prostitution and explicitly makes it a punishable offence, both for the operator as well as the customer. This must be enforced at the local level. A study by the WODC, the Research and Documentation Centre of the Dutch Ministry of Justice, is cautiously optimistic about the effects of the act, although it also concludes that more energy must be put into tackling illegal forms of prostitution, such as human trafficking and the exploitation of minors. As of 1 October 2002, the age under which minors may not be involved in the production, distribution and possession of pornographic material was increased from sixteen to eighteen years. The same legislative amendment also made virtual child pornography a punishable offence. Additionally, in order to combat child sex tourism the double criminality principle for sexual abuse committed abroad was abolished. The complaint requirement as a formal condition for prosecuting in cases of sexual abuse of children from twelve to sixteen has been replaced by a requirement of a hearing of the victim. As of 1 October 2000, the complaint requirement has already been cancelled for cases of prostitution (Article 245, paragraph 2, Dutch Penal Code).”[47]
“Paedophilia Movement”
While not unique to the Dutch 1970s-early 1980s, there has been a small community of self-identified “paedophiles” that, with variable financial support of leading sexual reform forums has sought to “liberate” children or themselves from oppressive regimens. As chronicled by some authors[48].
Janssen,
D. F., Growing Up Sexually. Last revised: Dec 2005 |
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[1]Bernard stichting, Tijdschr Soc Geneesk [Dutch] 17(1979):572; Bernard Foundation Inq., De Psycholoog [Dutch] 14(1979),7:447
[2] Hekma, G. (1997) How Liberal is the
[3]Last, J. (1965) De waarheid gevonnist, De Nieuwe Stem 20,5:313-4; Aalberse, H. B. (1966) De Liefde van Bob en Daphne, Derde Deel. Revised third printing. The Hague, Holland: Oisterwijk, p7-19
[4] Hekma, G. (2004) The decline of sexual
radicalism in the NL, in Hekma, G. (Ed) Past
and Present of Radical Sexual Politics.
[5] Schalet, A. T. (1994) Dramatiseren
of normaliseren? De culturele constructie van tiernerseksualiteit in de
Verenigde Staten en Nederland, Amsterdam
Sociol Tijdschr [Dutch] 21,2:113-47; Schalet, A. T. (1999) Raging Hormones, Regulated Love: Adolescent
Sexuality and the Constitution of the Individual in the United States and the
Netherlands. Paper presented to the Society for Comparative Research /
Center for Comparative Social Analysis, UCLA, May 8-9, LA; Schalet, A. T.
(2000) Raging Hormones, Regulated Love: Adolescent Sexuality and the
Constitution of the Modern Individual in the
[6] Winkel, C. (1972) De Sexuele Ontwikkeling van het Kind.
[7]Sandfort, Th. (1984) Seksualiteit van kinderen en jeugdigen: wat weten we ervan? Jeugd & Samenl [Dutch] 14:670-89
[8] Zuyderland, E. (1992) Zo Doen Wij Dat: Literatuurstudie Psychosexuele Ontwikkeling Kinderen. [NISSO library; Dutch]
[9]Zanden, R. van der (1992) Seksueel gedrag van kinderen: literatuuroverzicht, Tijdschr Ontwikkelingspsychol [Dutch] 19,3:133-53
[10]Gruental Klestadt, A. (1993) Hoe Willen Wij Ernaar Kijken? Een Literatuurstudie naar Verschillende Conceptualiseringen van Seksualiteit van Kinderen. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands [Dutch]; Gruenthal-Klestadt, A. (1993) Talking Straight About Sex: Verslag van een Onderzoek naar het Seksuele Denken van het Kind. University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands [Dutch]
[11] Graaf, H. de & Rademakers, J. (2003) Seks in de Groei. Een Verkennend Onderzoek naar de (Pre)Seksuele Ontwikkeling van Kinderen en Jeugdigen. Delft [Holland]: Eburon [Dutch]
[12] In Rademakers, J. & Straver, C. (1986) Van Fascinatie naar Relatie: Het Leren Omgaan met Relaties en Sexualiteit in de Jeugdperiode; Een Ontwikkelingsdynamische Studie. Zeist [Holland]: NISSO [Dutch]
[13]Mede, P. van der (1983) Doktertje Spelen: Seksualiteit en Eerstejaars Studenten. Zeist [Holland]: NISSO [Dutch]
[14] Vogels, T. & Vliet, R. van der (Eds, 1990) Jeugd en Seks. Gedrag en Gezondheidsrisico’s bij Scholieren. ’s-Gravenhage [The Hague, The Netherlands: SDU; Dutch]
[15]Brugman, E., Goedhart, H., Vogels, T. & Zessen, G. van
(1995) Jeugd en Seks 95 : Resultaten
van het Nationale Scholierenonderzoek.
[16] Cohen-Kettenis, P. T. &
Sandfort, Th. G. M. (1991) Sexual
Behavior of Young Children: Observations of 665 Parents. Paper presented at
the Tenth World Congress for Sexology,
[17]Oostveen, J., Meulmeester & Cohen-Kettenis, P. (1994) Seksueel gedrag van kleuters, Ned Tijdschr Geneesk [Dutch] 138,44: 2200-4
[18] Drenth, J. J. & Slob, A. K.
(1997)
[19]
Hartskeerl, A. (1974) Pedofilie en
Preventie. Research paper,
[20]Corstjens, J. M. H. (1975) Opvoeding en Pedofilie; Sexualiteitsbeleving en Attitude ten Aanzien van Pedofilie. 2 vols. Nijmegen [Dutch]. See also Fledderus, A. (2001) Bang voor Pedo's : Een Zoektocht naar de Oorzaken van de Grote Onrust en Negatieve Belangstelling met Betrekking tot Pedoseksualiteit. Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, Faculteit der Rechtsgeleerdheid [Dutch]
[21]De Bruyn, G. (1972) De Lichaamsbeleving van Jonge Kinderen. Zeist [Holland]: NISSO [Dutch]; Bernard, F. (1974) Pedofilie. Bussum [Holland]: Aquarius [Dutch]
[22]Ende-de Monchy, C. van den (1980) Exploratief Onderzoek naar de Lichaamsbeleving bij Kinderen van Vier tot Zes jaar. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands [Dutch]; Ende-de Monchy, C. van den (1984) Onderzoek naar het Seksuele Scenario van Kinderen van Vier tot Zes Jaar. Zeist [Holland]: NISSO [Dutch]
[23]Laan, M. (1994) Kinderen en hun Beleving van Lichamelijkheid. Dissertation, University of Amsterdam [Dutch]; Laan, M., Rademakers, J. & Straver, C. (1996) De beleving van lichamelijkheid en intimiteit door kinderen, Kind & Adolescent [Dutch] 17,1:32-37; Rademakers, J., Laan, M. & Straver, C. (1996) Studying Children’s Sexuality from the Child’s Perspective. Presentation at the 21st Annual Meeting of the International Academy of Sex Research, Provincetown, Mass.; Rademakers, J., Laan, M. & Straver, C. (2000) Studying children’s sexuality from the child’s perspective, J Psychol & Hum Sex 12,1/2:49-60
[24]Hagens, R. & Leeuwenburgh, I. (1999) Het Geheel is Meer dan de Som der Delen: Onderzoek naar Kennis van Seksualiteit bij Kinderen van 7 en 8 Jaar. Amsterdam: Vrije Universiteit [Dutch]
[25] Brilleslijper-Kater , S. (1995) Over Bloemetjes en Bijtjes: Kennis over Seksualiteit bij Kinderen van Twee tot Zes Jaar. Doctoral Dissertation, Free University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands [Dutch]; Brilleslijper-Kater, S. & Baartman, H. (1997) Over bloemetjes en bijtjes: wat weten kinderen van 2 tot en met 6 jaar van seksualiteit? Tijdschr Seksuol [Dutch] 21:65-73
[26] Halteren, F. van & Dij, Y. van (1983) Relaties en Seksualiteit en Buitenlandse Kinderen: Een Onderzoeksverslag naar de Ervaringen van een Tiental Leerkrachten met Onderwijs in Relaties en Seksualiteit aan Buitenlandse Kinderen. Utrecht [Holland]: GVO [Dutch]
[27] Bruin, J. de (1997) Kinderen en Seksualiteit: Onderzoek naar Seksuele Interesse van Kinderen tussen de 7 en 12 Jaar en een Vergelijking met Kinderen met een Antisociale Gedragsstoornis. Utrecht [Holland]: NISSO [Dutch]
[28] Wolffers, I. & Bloem, M. (1980a) Aanraken. IKON; Wolffers, I. & Bloem, M. (1980b) Nieuwsgierig. IKON; Dijck, E. van et al. (1988) Seks op de Wip. Broadcasted 26/05/1988 and 10/06/2000; Oostveen, T. (1985) Vieze Kindertjes? Rijksuniversiteit van Limburg [Dutch]; Mochel, H. (1991) [Kinderen en Sexualiteit]. NCRV; Rondom Tien, 22/11/1991 [Dutch]
[29]Huizinga, C. (1979) Wat weten kinderen van seks? (en hoe
komen ze aan die kennis?) Gezon Gezin
[Dutch] 18,12:20-2; 19(1980),1:21-3; 19,3:20-1; 19,6:21-2; 19,10:18-21. Some
fragmentary discussions are presented in Rossum, K. van (1989) Seks, Wat is Dat? Ede/ Antwerpen: Zomer
& Keuning [Dutch], and in Van der Veer, G. (1983) Knuffelen, rotzooien en
de angst voor het neuken: ervaringen en belevingen rondom seksualiteit van
kinderen tussen 10 en 14 jaar, Jeugd
& Samenl [Dutch] 13,2:68-76. See also Schrijfsterskollektief Madam
Kitteklara (1981) “Het Gaat Allemaal
Vanzelf”: Meisjes over Seksualiteit.
[30] J. Staffeleu, presentation of
research in progress, at a Dutch sexological study day,
[31]Kuik, S. (2001) Het verlaten van de kindertijd: seksualiteit en hoe de kinderen pubers worden, Amsterdams Sociol Tijdschr [Dutch] 28,2:205-30; Kuik, S. (2003) Leaving childhood: Sexuality and how children become adolescents, Neth J Soc Sci 39,1:11-22
[32]As reported in De Vos, R. & Kors, T. (1981) Een stijf plassertje- is dat sex? Nieuwe Revu [Dutch] 32, July:52-5
[33] De Roever, N. (1891) Van Vrijen en Trouwen: Bijdrage tot de Geschiedenis van Ou-Vaderlandsche Zeden. Haarlem [Holland]: De Erven F. Bohn [Dutch]
[34]Nieuwkerk, H. van (1981) Seksuele Opvoeding, Moraal en Gedrag van Jongeren, 1946-1981; Een Onderzoek aan de Hand van de Adviesrubriek 'Wij Willen Weten' uit het Blad van de Nederlandse Vereniging voor Sexuele Hervorming. [NISSO library]
[35] Hekma, G. (1988) De belaagde onschuld, in Hekma, G. & Roodenburg, H. (Eds.) Soete Minne en Helsche Boosheit. Nijmegen [Holland]: SUN, p232-54 [Dutch]. See also Nater, J. P. (1986) Vigelerende Vrouwen, Gedienstige Meiden. Rotterdam: Donker, p89-91 [Dutch]; Pesch, R. van (1986/7) Onzedelijk, onrein, ontuchtig en onkuisch [De strijd tegen de onanie in Nederland, part II], Concept [Dutch] 3,267-92
[36] Van Tilburg, M. (1998) Hoe Hoorde Het?Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis [Dutch]
[37] Rang, B. (2002) Sexuelle Geheimnisse. Erziehung zur Ehe in den nördlichen Niederlanden im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert, Zeitsprünge 6:343-68 [German]
[38] Röling, H. Q. (1990) Artsen en seksuele opvoeding in Nederland, Ped Tijdschr [Dutch] 15,2:85-90; Röling, H. Q. (1993) Sexual knowledge as the boundary between youth and adulthood and the ideal of innocence in the Dutch debate on sexual instruction 1890-1960, Paedagog Hist [Belgium] 29,1:229-40; Röling, H. Q. (1994) Gevreesde Vragen: Geschiedenis van de Seksuele Opvoeding in Nederland. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press [Dutch] with biblio 1994:p246-8. See also Röling, H. Q. (1996) De moraal van “Gevreesde vragen”, Ned Tijdschr Opv, Vorming & Onderw [Dutch] 12,2:100-8. For other historical accounts on sex education, see adjacent articles by Bijlmer, L. (1996) Een moeilijke geschiedenis: de seksuele opvoeding in historisch perspectief, Ned Tijschr Opv, Vorming & Onderw [Dutch] 12,2:109-21, and Groenendijk, L. (1996) Psychoanalyse, kinderseksualiteit en voorlichting: een historische impressie, Ned Tijschr Opv, Vorming & Onderw [Dutch] 12,2:123-39
[39] Bois-Reymond, M. du (1992) Eltern-Kind-Beziehungen zwischen 1900 und 1920 am Beispiel der Sexualerziehung: aus einer Oral-History-Studie in Leiden, Niederlande, BIOS 5,1:49ff
[40]Rümke, H. C. (1937) Over masturbatie, NTvG [Dutch Med J] 81, Aug.3:3814-21
[41]Ketting, E. (1990) De seksuele revolutie van jongeren, Amsterdams Sociol Tijdschr [Dutch] 17,2:69-84
[42] Van der Vliet, R. (1991) Love without Ties: A New Phase in the Sexual Life Course, Netherlands’ J Soc Sci 27,2:67-79
[43] Poel, Y. te & Ravesloot, J. (1997) Seksualiteit als opvoedings- en ontwikkelingsterrein: Nieuwe oriëntaties en dilemma’s ? Comenius [Dutch] 1:55-65
[44] Brongersma, E. (1980) The meaning of “indecency” with respect to moral offences involving children, Br J Criminol 20,1:20-34; Brongersma, E. (1988) A Defence of Sexual Liberty for All Age Groups, Howard J Crim Just 27,1:32-43; Brongersma, E. (1983) Kinderen, seks, wet, justitie, Jeugd & Samenl [Dutch] 13,2:126-32
[45] See also Faust, B. (1995) Child sexuality
and age of consent laws: the
[46] Chronicled in Utrechts Universiteitsblad (as found online) 28,21; 28,21:1,9; 28,22:3; 28,25:1; 28,28:1; 28,29:3; 28,37:6; 29,4:3
[47] Growing up in the Low Countries - Children’s Rights in
the
[48] Sandfort, T. (1986) Pedophilia and the gay movement, Journal of Homosexuality 13:2/3:89-110;
Plummer, K. (1981) The paedophile's progress; a view from below, in Taylor, B.
(Ed.) Perspectives on Pedophilia.
Batsford Academic; Bernard, F. (Ed., 1997) Pädophilie
ohne Grenzen - Theorie, Forschung, Praxis. Frankfurt am Main: Foerster
Verlag; F. Bernard, F. (1987) The Dutch Paedophile Emancipation Movement, Paidika [