Details

The Samson Commission was established to investigate indications of and responses to the sexual abuse of children in out-of-home care (juvenile institutions and foster homes) in the period 1945 to 2010, and the mechanisms in place for detecting abuse. The task was not to investigate individual cases of sexual abuse.

The Process
The Commission interviewed victims, and contracted the Groningen research group on historical abuse (1945–2007) to undertake studies of sexual abuse in both foster and residential care. At the end of its research, the Commission organized various round table discussions.

Governing Authority
Appointed by the Ministers for Youth and Family and of Justice, on behalf of the Dutch government

Findings
The Commission found that sexual abuse had always occurred in residential juvenile care and foster care. The government knew of the abuse of the children it had put into care, but had little insight into its nature and extent.

The risk of abuse is more than 2.5 times higher than for the average Dutch child, girls are victims more than twice as often as boys, and children with an intellectual disability are victims three times more often than children in care without such an intellectual disability. Peers made up more than half of the perpetrators.

The sector was found to be insufficiently able to recognise sexual problems, and leadership and organisational problems hampered its ability to spot sexual abuse.

Recommendations
The Commission divided its recommendations into several themes, concerning:

• professionalisation of the sector in the area of sexuality;
• those with a focus on residential juvenile care;
• those with a focus on foster care;
• those with a focus on the care system;
• those with a focus on politics; and
• implementation.

Related Inquiries
Deetman Commission

Inquiry Panel

• Baartman, Herman (30 January 2012 - )

• Bakker, Nelleke (August 2010 – December 2011)

• Bijleveld, Catrien
• Dijkstra, Sietske
• Hendriks, Jan (13 October 2011 - )

• Minderman, Goos