Dutch to adopt Clare’s Law to check partner’s violent past

A majority of MPs have voted in favour of a motion to adopt legislation that will allow women to check if their partner has convictions for domestic violence.

The legislation is based on Clare’s Law, which was adopted in 2014 in Britain following the murder of  36-year-old Clare Wood in 2009 by her ex-partner. Wood was unaware of the man’s abusive past.

Worried relatives and friends would also be able to request access to the information. It will then be up to the police to grant access, taking into account privacy considerations.

According to national statistics agency CBS, 41 women were killed in 2023, and over half were murdered by a partner or ex-partner. In 20% of cases, the killer was another member of the family.

The motion, tabled by D66’s Hanneke van der Werf and backed by VVD, PvdA-GroenLinks and NSC, said the “timely detection and follow up of reports of domestic violence is too often failing”. Information about the violent past of a partner would enable a woman to make “a well-informed choice and ask for help at an early stage,” it said.

Junior justice minister Ingrid Coenradie (PVV) has put the prevention of femicide at the top of her agenda and has an extra €10 million to spend on campaigns and a designated specialisation at the public prosecution office.