Equality Under Pressure: The Impact of Ethnic Profiling in the Netherlands

The Dutch pride themselves on being members of an open, tolerant, and fair society. But for a growing number of people in the Netherlands, this ideal is being put under pressure by proactive police actions.

Too often, individuals from visible minorities feel that they are being singled out by the police not because of something they have done, but because of the way they look: singled out to be stopped, or checked, or searched. This is ethnic profiling.

This report details the experiences of 10 Dutch men of different ethnic backgrounds—students, professionals, police officers, fathers. All have experienced first-hand the costs that stops can exact on individuals, their families, communities, and wider public safety.