In the survey, young people were asked, in the run-up to the Dutch parliamentary elections in March 2021, what political leaders in The Hague should do better when it comes to relationships and sexuality. For example, 59% of young people believe that the Netherlands should call other countries to account if young people there are unable to make their own choices freely. According to 56% of young people, the abortion pill should be available from GPs. And 75% of young people believe that contraception should be available free of charge to everyone.

What do young people consider most important? Of all the topics, young people ranked ‘preventing sexual violence’ first. This was followed by ‘access to free contraception’, while ‘always having access to abortion’ came third.

Prevention

Ton Coenen, director of Rutgers, considers the results concerning the prevention of sexual violence particularly striking: “We see that young people of all political colours consider prevention important by a majority. From the VVD (67%) to the SP (86%). It is really high time for the new government to take up the prevention of sexual violence.” This includes good sex education in all schools in the Netherlands, better training for professionals involved, and public campaigns to improve the culture surrounding sex in the Netherlands.

Consequences of Covid-19

The survey also asked about the Netherlands’ international role, especially now that sexual health is under pressure worldwide due to Covid-19. “We see that the majority of young people believe that a new government should make more money available for this. This is justified, because there are enormous shortages of information, contraception and safe abortion in many countries, and sexual violence is increasing. Covid-19 has made this much worse. This is very worrying.”

Rutgers Dialogue

The survey was conducted as part of the online ‘Rutgers Dialogue: The Political Foreplay’, held on 6 October 2020. From TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht, BNNVARA presenter Tim Hofman spoke with political youth organisations. The questions discussed included:

  • What should political leaders in The Hague do better when it comes to access to contraception and abortion, the prevention of sexual violence and sex education?
  • What role should the Netherlands play now that freedom of choice and sexual rights, especially during Covid-19, are increasingly under threat worldwide?

Political youth organisations from across the political spectrum were represented in the dialogue: JOVD, CDJA, Jonge Democraten, Jonge Socialisten, DWARS, Perspectief, Rood and Pink. Splinter Chabot, Devika Partiman, Tessel ten Zweege and Lisa de Pagter brought clarity and focus to the dialogue.

You can view the survey and all the results here.

The ‘Rutgers Dialogue: The Political Foreplay’ can be watched again via this link. It starts at 26:30 in the YouTube video.