De stem van Nenita la Rose
Nenita (1956) is the president of the Dutch Council of Women (NVR) since 2017. The NVR represents more than 50 women organisations within The Netherlands. In 2018 she became a board member of Amnesty International. In that same year she was elected City Councillor for the Social Democratic Party (PvdA) in the city of Amsterdam being the spokesperson for Diversity & Inclusion amongst others.
From 2007-2015 Nenita was Executive Director of Child Helpline International (CHI), a UN Recognised organisation that advocates for the Rights of Children and Young People around the world.
Born in Suriname and raised in the Netherlands. Studied Law at the University of Amsterdam and started her working career at the City Amsterdam lasting for almost 20 years, as Deputy director at the Mayor’s Office, Director International Affairs and Management Board member of the Southeast City District. She is happy and proud to be a mother and grandmother and a spouse.
This interview was taken by writer and leadership coach Cécile Masson on April 15th and is in Dutch.
The essence
Just now another pandemic becomes blatantly obvious
Nenita is troubled about the growing number of women and children that are victims of domestic violence in times of Corona.
This second global pandemic that has been amongst us for a while yet today cannot and should not be ignored anymore.
Domestic violence knows many forms. Psychological violence at home also has a major impact on life and so has physical abuse. The most serious form of violence against humanity is femicide. Women and girls are abused and murdered simply because they are women.
Domestic violence happens everywhere in all layers of the population, it is so large and widespread and in all countries…
The numbers of victims are growing in The Nederland’s and elsewhere. In average in the Netherlands, 100.000 children are witnessing or are victims of abuse every year and in 96% of the time a parent is the perpetrator and 74% of these perpetrators have also been victims themselves.
It is generational spiral of violence …
Last year in Amsterdam alone, 5700 reports of domestic violence were received in the first six months at an organization called Safe Home. The vast majority turned out to be very serious. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Now with this crisis it is actually all hands on deck … the subject is so important, so intense, especially when children are involved, that you should not spare the resources. It is important to invest and take a good look at politics, make an analysis of where we are now, also in Amsterdam.
Ask serious questions:
– How come there is a yearly increase and that it is not being taken seriously enough to invest into prevention?
– What is the nature and origin of the violence?
– Is this acceptable at the heart of a democracy?
– How can we turn it around?
It is important that society should, as much as possible, know about this and be aware. If you have a suspicion try to be open to it, try to have a chat, no matter how difficult that will be, to see how you can help. Many women and their children benefit from being given that helping hand.
Accepting violence against women and children as a given is undermining the human rights and the very democratic nature of our society.
For more interviews of this series “Women Around the world, a mosaic of feminine impressions and inspiration in times of Corona, visit www.cecilemasson.com/en/blog/