Plea for a Dutch Emancipation Authority

Recently, after the worldwide protests following the murder of George Floyd, Prime Minister Rutte acknowledged that the Netherlands struggles with institutional racism too. According to him, the responsibility for solving this lies with individual citizens: the government cannot do more than it already does. Prof. Rosemarie Buikema (Gender Studies), Prof. Belle Derks (Social, Health & Organisational Psychology) and Prof. Linda Senden (International and European Law) proposed an alternative in de Volkskrant.

Economic advantage

"The crucial problem is not the absence of legislation but the effective supervision and enforcement of those legal standards," write Buikema, Derks and Senden. "Many market players and institutions need a push to actively combat discrimination, because investing in radical equality does not directly provide them with an (economic) advantage." The current system assumes too much that people take action themselves, while research shows that this often does not happen.

NEMA

The three writers advocate for the establishment of a Dutch Emancipation Authority (Nederlandse Emancipatie Autoriteit or NEMA), "one very clear bureau specifically responsible for supervision and enforcement to combat all forms of discrimination and promote equal opportunities for all". This way, not only does the government take responsibility for the problem, but it is also clear to citizens where they can go when they experience discrimination.