Amsterdam
The Netherlands has a new political party devoted to legalizing sex with 12-year-olds. The Charity, Freedom, and Diversity Party, which registered this week, wants to legalize bestiality and child pornography, while lowering the age of sexual consent from 16 to 12. “A ban just makes children curious,” said party founder Ad van den Berg. “We want to make pedophilia a subject for discussion.” Children’s advocates were appalled. “They make out as if they want more rights for children,” anti-pedophile campaigner Ireen van Engelen told Amsterdam’s Allgemeen Dagblad. “But their position that children should be allowed sexual contact from age 12 is of course just in their own interest.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Why is Trump’s alleged strike on Venezuela shrouded in so much secrecy?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION Trump’s comments have raised more questions than answers about what his administration is doing in the Southern Hemisphere
-
Vance’s ‘next move will reveal whether the conservative movement can move past Trump’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Why recognizing Somaliland is so risky for IsraelTHE EXPLAINER By wading into one of North Africa’s most fraught political schisms, the Netanyahu government risks further international isolation
