The Caged Virgin - Ayaan Hirsi Ali [56]
In April 2003 the House of Representatives accepted a motion that demanded that the government set out its vision for the campaign against domestic violence by September 1 of that year. Typical of what normally happens, the presentation of this plan has so far been postponed twice.
In order to tackle domestic violence, a number of measures need to be in place.
There should be a central help desk for victims, one service that coordinates all the organizations involved. This institution should be responsible for the preventing, identifying, and reporting domestic violence, referring those involved, gathering information, giving advice, tracking down offenders, preparation for the prosecution, and probation. Utrecht is one of the places that has had good experiences with a coordinated service along these lines, although the various links in the chain of preventive measures remain spread over a number of institutions.
The overall budget and coordination should be in the hands of one government minister or secretary.
The safety of the victims must be guaranteed by placing the offender, rather than the victims, outside the home, and by legally obliging the offender to undergo treatment.
The emphasis should move from aftercare to prevention. Following the example of the United States, the Netherlands should set up family courts that specialize in the criminal prosecution of perpetrators of domestic violence. The benefits of this approach lie in the fact that collaboration between police, the public prosecution, and social services can be speeded up, and thus become more pragmatic, efficient, and cost-effective. Moreover, this would, at last, allow us to measure the result of the government’s policy. Finally, a more effective approach to dealing with domestic violence will be a positive influence on the problems of the oppression of women and underage delinquency. How many women will have to undergo Zarife’s fate before the government can fight domestic violence effectively?
POSTSCRIPT: THE STATE OF AFFAIRS IN JULY 2004
Since this chapter was first written, a majority of the elected members of the House of Representatives has voted in favor of registering honor killings and domestic violence on the basis of ethnic origin. This should finally allow more insight into the problem. Recently, a report commissioned by the Ministry of Justice revealed that one in four women will experience domestic violence at some point. I suspect that the true figure is higher, as corporal punishment is seen as justifiable on educational grounds by most families from Muslim countries.
Minister of Justice Piet Hein Donner has said, under pressure from the House of Representatives, that he will consider appointing a committee that will look at how accessories to the crime (from the wider family) who may have assisted in (the planning of) an honor killing could be brought to trial.
Minister of Social Affairs Aart-Jan de Geus and Minister of Integration and Immigration Rita Verdonk have agreed that by the end of this government’s term, there will be a structure that covers the nation (i.e., a national help desk), allowing the government to clamp down on domestic violence more effectively. The ministers have promised to see to it that culturally legitimized violence against women in immigrant circles will be firmly dealt with.
In addition, the present government has promised to take prompter and more effective measures against the trafficking of people. This kind of trade is a monstrous and well-hidden form of violence against women. Girls (from as young as eight years old in Asian countries) and women are kidnapped or lured away from their birthplaces in poor regions (Albania, the former Yugoslavia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Chechnya, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Congo, various countries in Latin America, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, et