Stichting Cassandra is a Dutch

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cau ...

that defends the interests of victims of sexual and

psychological violence Psychological abuse, often called emotional abuse, is a form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another person to a behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, or post-traumatic ...

. The foundation currently publishes its work in five

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

History

Stichting Cassandra was founded in 2020 by

whistleblower A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...

Pieke Roelofs as a result of her own experiences with abuse, the

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest a ...

and

legal system The contemporary national legal systems are generally based on one of four basic systems: civil law, common law, statutory law, religious law or combinations of these. However, the legal system of each country is shaped by its unique history an ...

. Roelofs stated that the systematic failure in sexual violence cases and failure of the government to protect victims "must stop", and that the Dutch

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...

did "not only put victims in danger, but also society." The foundation has its registered office in

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

. In March 2020, the foundation demonstrated at an

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday list of minor secular observances#March, celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights, women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, ...

March, raising attention for the fact that

The 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 Nether ...

has not legally defined sex without consent as

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

, urging

minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a Ministry (government department), ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of ju ...

Ferdinand Grapperhaus Ferdinand Bernhard Joseph "Ferd" Grapperhaus (born 8 November 1959) is a Dutch politician who served as Minister of Justice and Security in the Third Rutte cabinet from 26 October 2017 until 10 January 2022. He is a member of the Christian Democ ...

De Limburger ''De Limburger'' is a Dutch newspaper covering the province of Limburg. The '' Limburgs Dagblad'' merged into ''De Limburger'' at the end 2017. Both newspapers were owned by Mediahuis. ''Dagblad De Limburger'', the previous name of ''De Limburge ...

to “hurry up” with the proposed new rape laws. In May 2020, masked

activists Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fr ...

of the foundation protested at

Vrijthof Vrijthof is a large urban square in the centre of Maastricht, Netherlands. The square developed from an ancient Roman and Frankish cemetery into a semi-private space that belonged to the Collegiate Church of Saint Servatius. In the 19th centur ...

in Maastricht using

ultraviolet Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 PHz) to 400 nm (750 THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiati ...

lights and

neon Neon is a chemical element with the symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is a noble gas. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with about two-thirds the density of air. It was discovered (along with krypt ...

balloon A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or li ...

s spelling 'Mask for Justice', raising awareness on the increase of domestic violence as a result of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

isolation. In August 2020, the foundation responded to a Dutch government consultation about the proposed new sex crime laws in the Netherlands, warning about the low prosecution number of rapists in the country. The foundation also stated that in the first 3 quarters of 2019, only 37% of reports of rape to the police led to a

criminal complaint In legal terminology, a complaint is any formal legal document that sets out the facts and legal reasons (see: cause of action) that the filing party or parties (the plaintiff(s)) believes are sufficient to support a claim against the party ...

. It was added that in October 2019, according to police sources, 945 rape cases had been pending for longer than six months, 90 of which for longer than two years. The foundation criticised the fact that since 2017 the maximum sentence of 12 years in

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

had never been demanded in a rape case; the highest sentence imposed was 6 years, the lowest 21 days, and on average a rapist was jailed for a year and 5 months. The foundation highlighted that Meldpunt Kinderporno received approximately 300,000 reports of

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" o ...

child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whet ...

materials in 2019, which was 'an increase of 38 percent: the previous year, the number of reports increased by 45 percent'. Concerning

consent Consent occurs when one person voluntarily agrees to the proposal or desires of another. It is a term of common speech, with specific definitions as used in such fields as the law, medicine, research, and sexual relationships. Consent as und ...

, Stichting Cassandra stated that "what matters in abuse cases is whether facts and circumstances have made it impossible for the victim to freely determine their will", whether the perpetrator "abused this" or that the perpetrator even "deliberately created this situation". According to the foundation, "in an amendment to the law, the existence, abuse and / or deliberate influence of those power dynamics should be clearly elaborated and put at the center of consideration". Stichting Cassandra criticised newly introduced terminology "sexual interaction against the will" by minister

in the proposed law reform, referring to it as an example of "contempt and disregard" towards victims and that the choice of words "shifts the focus of the offender on something that happens between the offender and the victim" as well as that the "reality of being abused" is no longer mentioned, stating the choice of words was "neutralizing" abuse and "secondarily traumatizing" for victims. The foundation said among others seeing the terminology "sexual interaction" above sex crime articles concerning abuse of children, made them 'gag'.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Non-profit organisations based in the Netherlands 2020 establishments in the Netherlands Maastricht Organisations based in Limburg (Netherlands)