IN FOCUS
Evidence, Echoes, Effects
Editor: Lena Leemhuis
Sexual violence and sexually transgressive behaviour remain urgent social and public health issues in the Netherlands. Although conversations about these topics are becoming more open, recent research shows that students are disproportionately affected. Research initiated by Rutgers (Seks onder je 25e (2023)), the Dutch national expertise centre on sexual health and sexuality, shows that two out of three girls and 3 out of ten boys between 12 and 25 years old have experienced sexual transgressive behaviour. These numbers have increased in comparison to 2017. Further research among students shows that 1 out of 10 students has been a victim of rape (Rapport: Studenten over verkrachting). These numbers and stories about scandals of sexual transgressive behaviour among students have caused worry.
Even though the number of cases of sexual transgressive behaviour and sexual violence persists, young adults seem to become more familiar and supportive of the concept of consent. The majority of the students report (Rapport: Studenten over verkrachting) that they regard sexual intercourse without mutual consent as rape, and 91% of the young adults report checking for consent during a sexual interaction. These numbers show a mismatch between the convictions about consent, perceptions of their own behaviour and the practice. In 2025, Rutgers conducted research on young adults on consent, aiming to gain insights into their convictions and perceptions of consent in practice (Rutgers Rapport). The young adults who participated reported that their ideal sexual encounter included mutual consent, equality and safety. However, in practice, the young adults were faced with the complexity of the variety of contexts that may influence a person’s ability to give full consent. Consent is highly dependent on social contexts like gender norms and sexual scripts that might influence feelings of pressure to be dominant or submissive in sexual encounters. The respondents note that clear communication is often complicated due to social norms on gender related hierarchy (man as masculine and dominant, woman as submissive), sex shame (double sex standards) and norms related to sexuality (norms in the LGBTQ+ community).
Due to the persistent issue and the difficulty young adults experience with communication consent in practise, organisations like Amnesty International, Rutgers and the national government urge higher education institutes to take responsibility in the prevention of sexual transgressive behavior and sexual violence among students. In Dutch student culture, student associations are a big part of student culture. These organisations are often not equipped to deal with cases of sexual violence and do not have the tools to make proper policies to prevent sexual transgressive behavior and sexual violence. Therefore, professionals stress the importance of a dominant role of higher education institutions and their responsibility to provide both the student organisations and individual students with the necessary tools to deal with and prevent sexual violence and inappropriate sexual behavior and encourage a culture change among students (Studentenverenigingen niet goed voorbereid om seksueel wangedrag aan te pakken | Pointer | KRO-NCRV) .
In 2024, the ‘Student Pact’ (read more) was initiated by Mariette Hamer, government Commissioner for Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence. This pact aims to shed more light on inappropriate sexual behavior and support higher education institutions and student organisations to work towards a culture change. The pact includes practical guidelines for how student organisations can implement changes from the inside. Student organisations are invited to join the pact. By joining they will receive resources on how they can promote sustainable culture change. Furthermore, with joining the pact, student organisations show that they are actively participating in working on ways to prevent and deal with sexual violence and transgressive behaviour within student culture in the Netherlands. The advice the pact offers to both student organisations and educational institutions stresses the importance of raising awareness through interactive workshops and campaigns. Through participation in workshops that stress the importance of consent, young adults will become more familiar with identifying each other’s desires and boundaries and gain insights into their personal desires and boundaries.
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