The terrible "mass assaults" that took place in Cologne, involving dozens of women as victims of assault or rape, are cause for some political parties to argue against allowing asylum seekers.

In the Netherlands, Dutch women are thought to be at risk by allowing so-called "testosterone bombs" - that is, refugee men - into the country. This language, which is being used by public figures, wrongly suggests that asylum seekers are more inclined to assault or rape than the average Western man.

Hard data

However, hard data point out that sexual abuse is a worldwide phenomenon, including in the Netherlands. For example, recent research by the Public Health Service in South Limburg, together with Maastricht University, shows that 40 percent of all young women in the Netherlands may have had involuntary sexual experiences with a friend, acquaintance or family member. Which means not with the proverbial stranger that suddenly jumps out of the shrubs.

In other parts of the world, the sexual autonomy of women is not much better off. The United Nations estimates that 35 percent of all women in the world are exposed to physical or sexual violence at some point (be it in a relationship or not).

In short, the issue of sexual violence is - unfortunately - universal, and not limited to certain ethnic groups.

Tackling structural violence

The appropriate outcry over what happened to the women in Cologne may not be to beat the non-Western male. No more than the mass sexual assault may give cause to look into the women's behavior, as the mayor of Cologne suggested.

Rather, the attention should focus on doing research on and tackling structural violence, especially sexual violence, of men against women.

Anniek de Ruijter, president of the Proefprocessenfonds Clara Wichmann