Boas enforce sexual harassment in four additional cities
Starting Tuesday, April 1, boas in four additional cities may enforce sexual harassment in public: Almere, Dordrecht, Heerlen and Tilburg. This stems from a pilot started on July 1, 2024; the day the Sexual Offenses Act went into effect. Since that day, boas could already enforce on sexual harassment in public in Arnhem, Utrecht and Rotterdam.
Boas may not automatically enforce sexual harassment in public. The pilot should show how enforcement by boas, in addition to police enforcement, can contribute to proper enforcement of this offense. The pilot will run for another year. In Heerlen, we have trained a number of boa's especially for this purpose.
An evaluation is running concurrently with the pilot. Through the experiences of the pilot, we will see what role boas can play in enforcing sexual harassment in public. We expect to complete the evaluation around the summer of 2026.