A Dutch court is currently considering whether the Public Prosecution Service should prosecute two Dutch companies for potentially profiting from exploited North Korean workers. According to the Article 12 procedure filed by an international network of NGOs, two Dutch companies had ships or parts for ships built at a Polish shipyard known to use exploited workers. In 2020, NGO network …
The Jehovah’s Witnesses have sued the Dutch State for discrimination, the religious organization informed Trouw. Utrecht University conducted the investigation involved, following publications in Trouw in which sexual abuse victims within the Jehovah’s Witnesses described what happened to them, and published the results in January 2020. Utrecht University concluded that 60 percent of sexual abuse victims were very critical of …
The Jehovah’s Witnesses expelled one of their members from the church community because he criticized how the community deals with the sexual abuse of children, Trouw reports. The member involved is Bart van Gasteren from Oss, who tried to improve the position of sexual abuse victims from inside the Jehovah’s Witnesses, according to the newspaper. But, according to critical members, …
The extent of the plastic soup in the oceans may be much smaller than assumed for the past two decades. Estimates ranged from 50 million tons to 300 million tons of plastic waste floating in the oceans. According to them, rivers, in particular, bring much less plastic to the ocean than previously thought. The previous plastic soup estimates were based …
High concentrations of anti-depressants and anxiety inhibitors pose a risk to water life in Dutch ditches, canals, and lakes, according to research by Maastricht University, the RIVM, and other scientists. These medicines are so common in Dutch surface water that they are affecting aquatic life’s behaviors, Trouw reports. “The substances carbamazepine, oxazepam, and fluoxetine are regularly found” in the surface …
The municipality of Arnhem on Wednesday presented its plan to deal with the consequences of climate change. More than 10 percent asphalt removal is not possible, because Arnhem does not want to hinder accessibility, alderman Cathelijne Bouwkamp said to the newspaper. "Both adaption to climate change and combating it are necessary," climate expert Marjolein Pijpers-Van Esch of Delft University of …
