Netherlands Has Not Comprehensively Studied Domestic Violence Among Children in Nearly a Decade

The last time the Netherlands carried out comprehensive research specifically into how many children experience domestic violence and child abuse was in 2017. Nearly a decade on, that figure remains the only available national estimate, and child protection workers say the gap is becoming a serious problem.

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What the research found

The most recent figures come from the third National Prevalence Study on Child Maltreatment (NPM-2017), conducted by Leiden University and TNO Child Health on behalf of the Research and Documentation Centre (WODC) of the Ministry of Justice. The study found that between 90,000 and 127,000 children aged 0 to 17 were affected by some form of child maltreatment in 2017, equivalent to roughly 3 percent of all children in the Netherlands. The most common form was emotional neglect. In nearly half of all cases involving child maltreatment, other forms of domestic violence were also present in the household.

The 2017 study was the third in a series, following earlier studies in 2005 and 2010. In all three studies, the figures showed no significant change in the overall number of children affected. Experts note that the 3 percent figure represents cases identified by professionals and should be considered a lower bound, since not all cases are detected.

The CBS Impactmonitor on domestic violence and child abuse, published in December 2025, confirms that these 2017 figures remain the most recent national prevalence estimate for children. For adults, CBS found that in 2024, nearly 1.3 million people aged 16 and over experienced domestic violence in the 12 months prior to the survey.

Why no new research has been done

Researching domestic violence specifically among children is significantly harder than surveying adults. Young children cannot be interviewed directly, and older children often do not recognise that what they experienced constitutes abuse, particularly when they have grown up with it. The Inspectie Gezondheidszorg en Jeugd (IGJ) noted in 2023 that domestic violence is the most common form of violence in the Netherlands, and that the true scale is likely higher than reported figures suggest, since not all cases are identified.

The ministries of Health and Justice, which previously commissioned the deep-dive research, have argued that alternative methods can now provide estimates, including long-term tracking of hundreds of families, and CBS surveys asking people aged 16 and over to reflect on their childhood experiences. Child protection workers, however, say these alternatives have a fundamental limitation: children who grew up with violence often do not recognise it as such, and tend to blame themselves rather than report it. This means retrospective adult surveys miss a significant portion of what actually happened to children.

The call for new research

According to reporting by NOS Jeugdjournaal, Judith Kuypers of Veilig Thuis, the national advice and reporting centre for domestic violence, says new research is urgently needed. "In ten years, a lot has changed. It is important that new research is done. What is actually happening to children right now? How large is the problem? Can we get better insight into that?" she told the programme. Kuypers argues that without current data, support programmes and government awareness campaigns cannot be properly calibrated to the real scale of the problem.

Children's Ombudsman Margrite Kalverboer has also called for updated research, noting that children rarely approach reporting centres themselves. She has also suggested that centralised registration of all existing reports would already provide more insight, even without a new prevalence study.

Why the figures matter

The IGJ estimates that at least 3 to 4 percent of children are victims of child abuse each year in the Netherlands, approximately 90,000 to 120,000 children. These are figures based on known cases; the actual number is likely higher. Research shows that nearly two-thirds of victims go on to experience violence again later in life, and between 40 and 75 percent of child abuse victims later become perpetrators of violence themselves: against the original abuser, a partner, or their own children.

Children from families with a non-western migration background face a higher risk of maltreatment. The risk is estimated at 6.1 percent for first-generation children and 3.4 percent for the second generation, compared to 1.8 percent for children from families with a Dutch background.

The consequences for affected children are lasting. Children who experience domestic violence are more likely to be aggressive or withdrawn, perform poorly at school, suffer from nightmares and anxiety, and face depression and relationship difficulties in later life.