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<strong>Child</strong> PornograPhy First report oF the Dutch NatioNal rapporteur
From 1993-1994, a change took place with regard to how child pornography was viewed. The House of
Representatives called for adequate action to be taken. The approach at that time was mainly based on
criminal provisions other than the Article against child pornography, because the law made the necessary
coercive measures possible for those offences, which were not permitted by virtue of Article 240b
of the Dutch Criminal Code. 16 Furthermore, detection and prosecution was (and is) particularly labourintensive,
which was not proportionate to the low sentence carried by the offence at the time, namely a
custodial sentence of three months. Detection was therefore assigned a low priority. 17 Article 240b of the
Dutch Criminal Code was amended in 1996: the custodial sentence carried by the offence was increased
from a period of three months to four years. Furthermore, in order to be able to combat the commercial
trade in child abuse material more effectively, the Article was supplemented by a clause regarding the
penalization of individuals who make a habit or profession of committing the criminal offences. In addition
to this, a step was taken towards making the simple possession of child abuse material a criminal
offence. Up until then, this had not constituted a criminal offence. 18
In the meantime, an increasing number of initiatives were being carried out in order to keep up with
online developments. In 1996, the Meldpunt Kinderporno op Internet [Hotline Combating <strong>Child</strong> <strong>Pornography</strong>
on the Internet] was launched. 19 Material constituting child pornography that had been discovered online
on a specific website or in a certain message could be reported by contacting the Hotline. Computer
specialists were employed at the <strong>National</strong> Criminal Intelligence Service, and inter-regional teams specialising
in computer crime were also active in this field. Links were then established with other specialists,
such as those specialising in cases concerning sexual offences, who were employed as investigators at
regional police forces. In the opinion of the Minister of Justice, the responsibility for enforcing legislation
relating to public decency on the Internet should form part of ordinary criminal investigations. 20
<strong>Child</strong> <strong>Pornography</strong> and <strong>Child</strong> Prostitution Working Group
The first World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of <strong>Child</strong>ren in Stockholm (Sweden)
in September 1996 and the unrest surrounding the Dutroux case in Belgium in 1996 constituted reason
for additional attention to be devoted to combating child pornography and the sexual exploitation of
children. 21 Towards the end of 1996, two meetings took place, resulting in the formation of the <strong>Child</strong>
<strong>Pornography</strong> and <strong>Child</strong> Prostitution Working Group. 22 The working group consisted of experts from
the police, judicial authorities, institutions providing assistance and research institutions, and it was
apparent that it had a great deal of practical experience with the issue of child pornography and child
16 De Roos, 2000. An important consideration when increasing the sentence carried was the widening of
the opportunity to apply coercive measures and special investigative powers.
17 Parliamentary Papers II 1993/94, 23 682, no. 4.
18 Parliamentary Papers II 1993/94, 23 682, no. 3. See also second box text ‘Developments in legislative history’
§1.2.2.
19 See §3.3.1.1 for further information about the Meldpunt Kinderporno op Internet.
20 Parliamentary Papers II 1997/98, 25 078, no. 6.
21 <strong>Child</strong> <strong>Pornography</strong> and <strong>Child</strong> Prostitution in the Netherlands Working Group, 1998.
22 <strong>Child</strong> Right Worldwide and TransAct were initiators of this working group and ultimately responsible
for the content of the report ‘Kinderporno en kinderprostitutie in Nederland. De stand van zaken’ [<strong>Child</strong> pornography
and child prostitution in the Netherlands. The state of affairs], which was published in 1998. The
Ministry of Justice supported the working group financially.