On September 26th of this year, in a small town in Friesland, a fourteen-year-old boy murdered both his parents. Earlier in 2017, a boy of 14 was found guilty for the rape and murder of a fourteen-year-old girl. These cases, although shocking, are actually quite rare, particularly in the Netherlands.
Homicide – an umbrella term for murder or manslaughter – is currently at an all-time low in the Netherlands. Juvenile homicide holds a fraction of the total number of homicides: approximately 4% of all homicides are committed by juveniles in the ages 12 to 17 years. But unlike their adult counterparts, the past 25 years are characterized by a rather stable trend in juvenile homicide cases with peaks in the years 2003 and 2012.
Homicide – an umbrella term for murder or manslaughter – is currently at an all-time low in the Netherlands. Juvenile homicide holds a fraction of the total number of homicides: approximately 4% of all homicides are committed by juveniles in the ages 12 to 17 years. But unlike their adult counterparts, the past 25 years are characterized by a rather stable trend in juvenile homicide cases with peaks in the years 2003 and 2012.