Opinion

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Paedophiles and privacy

Monday 09 February 2009

The decision by the Stop Kindersex organisation to launch a website listing convicted paedophiles is a provocative one in a country as obsessed by privacy as the Netherlands.

With just 17 names on it, the move smacks more of an incitement to violence against a few hapless souls rather than the public service it pretends to be.

And the first legal objection is already underway. A convicted paedophile, who runs a political party which advocates sex with children, is going to court to have his name removed.

The justice ministry meanwhile is muttering that the site is ‘undesirable’ but says little can be done because it operates through the US.

In fact the justice department seems unwilling to take much of a stand at all when it comes to protecting children from sexual predators. It is reluctant to come down hard on internet providers which refuse to block child pornography websites.

Then there are the sentences meted out to convicted paedophiles which are often bizarrely low. And like all criminals in this country, paedophiles’ identities are kept secret during court cases to protect their privacy.

The government’s sensitivity to the privacy of its citizens is a good thing – unless of course your child’s football club is run by someone with a conviction for child abuse and you find out too late.