The Dutch cabinet presented a draft law on Monday to make psychological abuse and coercive control explicit criminal offenses [1, 2].
This legislative shift aims to stop domestic violence before it escalates into physical harm or femicide. By adding these offenses to the criminal code, the government seeks to enable faster prosecution of perpetrators who use non-physical means to dominate their partners [1, 4].
The proposal targets behaviors that constitute coercive control, such as dictating what a partner may wear, or controlling how long a partner is allowed to sleep [2]. Under current laws, such actions are often difficult to prosecute unless they are accompanied by physical violence or explicit threats.
The government published the draft law for public consultation on Monday [2, 3]. This consultation period will last for 10 weeks [5] before the proposal moves further through the legislative process in the Tweede Kamer, the House of Representatives [1, 2].
Officials said the move is necessary to recognize the severity of psychological violence. The draft law seeks to provide a legal framework that acknowledges how patterns of intimidation and control isolate victims, creating a cycle of abuse that often precedes lethal violence [1, 4].
Once the consultation period ends, the cabinet will review the feedback to refine the law before it is formally presented for a vote in parliament [3].
“The Dutch cabinet presented a draft law on Monday to make psychological abuse and coercive control explicit criminal offenses.”
This proposal represents a significant shift in the Dutch legal approach to domestic violence, moving from a reactive model based on physical injury to a preventative model that recognizes behavioral patterns. By criminalizing coercive control, the state acknowledges that psychological dominance is a precursor to physical violence, potentially allowing law enforcement to intervene in abusive relationships before they become lethal.
