Yes. There are three types of laws that provide prevention, protection and prosecution measures for domestic violence victims:

Administrative law

A temporary restraining order (huisverbod) is provided under the Wet Tijdelijk Huisverbod 2008. When a victim reports an incident to the police, a restraining order can be imposed within 24 hours.

Teachers, family doctors or care workers that suspect domestic violence can use the reporting code for domestic violence and child abuse. Under the Reporting Code for Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Act, in place since July 2013, organizations and independent professionals working with families, children or adults are required by law to use a reporting code for domestic violence. The law obliges these organizations to implement a procedure on what to do when a professional suspects domestic violence or child abuse.

Civil law

Civil law offers protection in the form of restraining orders. There are three types of restraining order: 1) those that prohibit entering a designated area or street (street restraining order); 2) those that prohibit entering a house (no-entrance order); and 3) those that prohibit any contact with the applicant in any way (no-contact order). Victims need to initiate civil interlocutory proceedings to apply for any of these.

Compensation for damages resulting from criminal acts can be claimed either by the victim filing a civil claim based on Section 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code in the context of criminal proceedings or through a claim for damages in civil proceedings.

Criminal law

A criminal protection order can be imposed 1) as a condition to suspend pre-trial arrest, 2) as a condition to suspend prosecution, or 3) as a condition to a suspended sentence.

The Directive on Domestic Violence and Honor-Related Violence (Aanwijzing huiselijk geweld en eergerelateerd geweld) has been specifically developed for use by the PPS. The focus is on preventing repetition of violence through implementing protective measures, e.g., asking the victim if they would like to pursue a street or contact ban, informing the victim about the possibility of omitting their address and contact information out of the police report, etc.

There is no criminal act of "domestic violence" as such. Domestic violence is covered by general provisions of criminal law, like common assault, causing grievous bodily harm, manslaughter, murder, rape, sexual assault and stalking. However, intimate partner violence (IPV) is an aggravated circumstance within the context of common assault or grievous bodily harm (Article 304 of the Criminal Code). The punishment can be raised by one third of the maximum penalty in cases where the victim is the wife, husband, parent or child of the perpetrator.

No special criminal procedures are needed in cases of IPV. Cases of IPV can be brought to court without the victim being obliged to make a complaint. A formal complaint is only needed in cases of stalking.

A court can also impose a compensation order on any person convicted of a criminal act (Section 36f of the Criminal Code) if and insofar as the suspect is liable under civil law for damage that was inflicted due to the criminal offense. Collection of the compensation and its transfer to the victim is arranged by the Central Judicial Collection Agency.

Domestic violence is explicitly condemned in the 1993 UN Declaration on Violence against Women. Domestic violence is a private crime, but is considered a violation of human rights if the government fails to prevent it and bring the perpetrators to justice (negligence).

On 1 March 2016, the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence ("Convention") entered into force in the Netherlands. The Convention is a human rights treaty and violence against women and domestic violence infringe on people's rights and integrity.^[1]

The definitions from this Convention are consistent with the definitions used by the government. More specifically, in the Social Support Act of 2015, domestic violence is identified as "physical, mental or sexual violence or threat by a family member, housemate, spouse or former spouse or caregiver." In the Youth Act, child abuse is defined as threatening or violent interaction of a physical, psychological or sexual nature, by the parents or other persons with whom the child is in a relationship of dependence.^[2] Dutch policy focuses on all victims and all forms of violence in dependency relationships and is therefore formulated to be gender-neutral. Therefore, there is no separate approach to violence against women.^[3]

The Netherlands has also signed other international conventions and resolutions on this topic, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women adopted by the United Nations, Goal Five of the Sustainable Development Goals 2015-2030 and UN Resolution 71/170 from 2016 (i.e., Intensification of efforts to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls: domestic violence, 19 December 2016).^[4]

The Istanbul Convention has been implemented in multiple Dutch laws. As indicated in Section 2.2, combating domestic violence is enshrined in the Social Support Act, which broadened the concept of social support to include safety in the domestic setting and decentralized responsibility to municipalities, the Report Code Act and the European Directive on Minimum Standards for the Rights, Support and Protection of Victims of Criminal Offences.^[6] The Netherlands has also adopted a comprehensive program called "Violence does not belong anywhere" for 2018-2021. The intention of the program is to build a comprehensive national network of regional centers (Safe Homes). These Safe Homes provide prevention, protection and support to victims of domestic violence. There are a total of 26 Safe Home organizations.^[7]

The 1979 convention has been ratified. The general recommendation No. 35 seems to have been implemented into Dutch law, but it is not entirely clear in which Dutch laws and regulations this has been done.