Several studies into the prevalence of child abuse in the Netherlands were conducted on behalf of the Ministries of Security and Justice and of Health, Welfare and Sport, the Samson Committee and the WODC.

On 11 June 2020, Sabine Witting defended her thesis 'Child Sexual Abuse in the Digital Era: Rethinking Legal Frameworks and Transnational Law Enforcement Collaboration'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. J.J. Sloth-Nielsen and Prof. S. van der Hof.

When abusive mothers hear crying babies, their autonomous nervous system does not react strongly enough. This is the conclusion reached by Sophie Reijman, PhD candidate in Child and Family Studies, in her research. This finding may provide leads for reducing child abuse. Defence on 16 December.

From 23-25 August the Child Abuse & Violence Congres ‘ Broken 2018’ took place. Mariëlle Bruning was one of the keynote speakers and talked about the child’s right to protection against all forms of violence and the implementation of this children’s right in domestic child protection systems.

The number of victims of child abuse is estimated to be higher during the first lockdown compared with a period without a lockdown. This is mainly due to an increase in the number of victims of emotional neglect, including educational neglect and witnessing domestic abuse. Families with children about…

Three directors of PostNL have been arrested in Belgium, suspected of human trafficking among other things. Abuses also exist in the Dutch parcel delivery sector. Why does the Netherlands act less firmly?

Academics regularly face threats, intimidation and abuse. The Universities of the Netherlands (UNL), the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) therefore launched the WetenschapVeilig platform on 7 November 2022.

On Thursday 1 December 2016 at 13.45 hrs, Francisco Sepulveda Ramirez will defend his doctoral thesis ‘Residence in Tax Treaties' at the Academy Building of Leiden University. Supervisor is Professor F.A. Engelen.

Children and young people who are victims of emotional abuse at the hands of their parents often report the symptoms of severe post-traumatic stress. These are generally even worse than after other forms of child abuse, such as physical abuse. These are the results of research by Leiden psychologists,…

On 20 February 2018, Simone van der Hof will give a lecture on the use of AI in combating online sexual abuse of children at the Academy of European Law (ERA) in Trier during the seminar The Life Cycle or Electronic Evidence - Handling E-Evidence in Child Sex Abuse Material.

Child abuse and child neglect are often seen as one and the same problem. But it can be useful to separate the two to gain more insight into the characteristics of the two phenomena. This is what pedagogical scientist Renate Buisman shows in her dissertation. PhD defence on 28 May.

Thanks to the virtual girl Sweetie created by Terre des Hommes, more than a thousand men who had webcam sex have been identified worldwide. They thought they were chatting with a ten-year-old girl. Whether that is punishable by law depends on the country, Leiden legal experts conclude.

By far the majority of users of child sexual abuse networks (or child porn forums as they are sometimes called) on the dark web do not actively communicate there but download illegal material, therefore committing a criminal offence. But they often stay under the police and judiciary’s radar. PhD candidate…

The use of virtual girl Sweetie, used by the police to investigate pedofiles, is problematic in the Netherlands. Researchers of Leiden University and Tilburg University conclude that this is due to the criminal law applicable at the moment.

‘We didn’t find any mechanisms in the brain for transmitting child abuse from generation to generation. What we did find is that experiences of neglect and abuse affect the brain differently,’ concludes Lisa van den Berg (Clinical Psychology). PhD defence 30 June.

How long should and may a doctor remain silent if he suspects child abuse? A GP who often sees the whole family, or a paediatrician, fills a crucial role when it comes to picking up signals of child abuse. Mirjam Sombroek-van Doorm examined how tenable professional confidentiality of medical practitioners…

On 2 and 3 October 2017, a delegation of the Child Law Department has participated in the 15th European regional conference of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect in The Hague.

Human trafficking is a very topical social problem, which because of both its social and legal complexity, can only be studied in an interdisciplinary way. Combating human trafficking currently features high on national and international policy agendas.

Workshop brings multidisciplinary experts together to produce interdisciplinary outcomes on the EU’s Proposal for a Regulation to prevent and combat child sexual abuse.

PhD Candidate Sabine K. Witting has published an article ‘Regulating bodies: child sexuality in the digital era’ in the Critical Quarterly for Legislation and Law, Vol. 1 2019.

On 19 February 2019, Mirjam Sombroek-van Doorm defended her thesis 'Medisch beroepsgeheim en de zorgplicht van de arts bij kindermishandeling in de rechtsverhouding tussen arts, kind en ouders'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. dr. A.G. Castermans en Prof. mr. C.J.J.M. Stolker.

Child maltreatment is a common problem in Vietnam. All forms of child maltreatment – emotional and physical – have a negative emotional effect on the child. In some cases, the child’s physical health and memory are also affected. These are the conclusions of PhD candidate Nhu Kieu Tran. Her PhD ceremony…

PhD defence

From 25 to 31 October, Professor Simone van der Hof was on a working visit to China with a delegation from Leiden Law School, including our dean Professor Joanne van der Leun.

On Thursday 1 December 2016 at 13.45 hrs, Francisco Sepulveda Ramirez will defend his doctoral thesis ‘Residence in Tax Treaties' at the Academy Building of Leiden University. Supervisor is Professor F.A. Engelen.

In this project, we seek to assess, map and understand the risk factors associated with fatal domestic violence.

Lecture

PhD defence

Sweetie 2.0 is a research project commissioned by Terre des Hommes on online child sex tourism and criminal law.

What is the role of neuronal emotional reactivity in the intergenerational transmission of abuse?

To what extent are the rights to street children violated en how can their rights be protected?

The aim of this project is to investigate the (cost)effectiveness of two innovative forms of trauma-focused therapy for patients with childhood abuse related PTSD. The ultimate goal is to improve quality of care and contribute to treatment innovation for this severely ill target population.

PhD defence

Urban riots, violent responses by police, drug-related assassinations, child abuse, bar fights: Violence is a core theme in today’s modern society.

With our research and teaching, we help make the world a better place. We join in the academic and public debate, and seek answers to economic and social issues – not just at the local and regional level but at the global one too.

The Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology comprises two departments. One focuses on research and teaching in the field of criminal law and procedure and the other on criminology.

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The LIBC is actively involved in training and education in the field of brain and cognition.

What is the role of stress and stress-related hormones in emotion regulation?

Political scientist Rebekah Tromble (Leiden University) and computational sociolinguist Dirk Hovy (University of Copenhagen) analyse how much hostility and sexism Clinton faces on Twitter, as well as who seems to be behind such attacks.

How do dissociative states affect the ability to suppress emotional distraction (in the context of a working memory task) in patients with Borderline Personality Disorder?

In July 2019 Asser Press published the book 'Sweetie 2.0—Using Artificial Intelligence to Fight Webcam Child Sex Tourism’ which was coedited by Simone van der Hof en Bart Schermer from the Center for Law and Digital Technologies, Bert-Jaap Koops from the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society…

In this commentary, Sabine Witting, Assistant Professor at eLaw, provides a comprehensive analysis of the Second Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.