Gender equality
Harassment, threats, insults or violence because of someone’s biological sexSexAll acts that can sexually arouse you. Sex is more than sexual intercourse.…Read more, sexual orientationSexual orientationFeeling sexually and emotionally attracted to someone. This can be someone of the opposite…Read more or genderGenderGender is about the roles and expectations we as a society have of…Read more are forbidden by lawLawRules which decide what you may and may not do. Every country has…Read more.
Gender refers to both someone’s gender identityGender identityThe inner feeling of being a man, a woman or both. A person’s…Read more and to their gender roles.
- Gender identity means whether a person feels like a woman or a man. It is possible for a person to be born a girl but feel like a boy. A person can also feel that they are neither a woman nor a man, or can feel like both.
- Gender roles are society’s expectations about the way a man or a woman should behave.
A man and a woman talking as equals
When a person’s gender or sexSexThe biological fact of being a woman (girl) or a man (boy). Sometimes,…Read more becomes a motive for violence by others, it can be recognised as an aggravating circumstance and result in a more serious punishment.
DiscriminationDiscriminationTreating people differently, for example because they have another skin colour, sex or…Read more
Dutch law forbids any discrimination based on sex or gender. For example:
- discrimination because you are a woman or a man (biological sex). Men and women have equal rights according to the law;
- discrimination based on sexual orientation;
- discrimination based on gender identity and expression.
For example: it is also forbidden to discriminate against a man because he dresses as a woman or to discriminate against a woman because she wants to do a typical man’s job.