Castration of abuse victim in 1950s- Dutch Parliamentary hearing tomorrow.

Until the 60s of last century, castration was in some situations seen as an acceptable medical procedure, not only with sex offenders, but also in mainstream psychiatry. Dutch Minister of Security and Justice, Ivo Opstelten states this in a letter to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament. Castration took place outside any judicial context, the minister said.

The letter comes on the eve of a new hearing in Parliament on Wednesday about abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, which itself has been associated with the practice of castration. Last month the NRC revealed the castration half a century ago of a young man, who previously had been the victim of sexual abuse in the St. Vincent Home in Harreveld. Opstelten has done research in various archives on this issue, but has found very little. The young man was castrated at the time of reporting abuse. Then the cases of 17 people were considered, but there was ultimately no case due to insufficient evidence.

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