Entertainment

Videoland tip of the day: Sit and Be Silent

By Wieke Veenboer | #!30Tue, 27 Jun 2023 16:15:02 +0200+02:000230#30Tue, 27 Jun 2023 16:15:02 +0200+02:00-4Europe/Amsterdam3030Europe/Amsterdam202330 27pm30pm-30Tue, 27 Jun 2023 16:15:02 +0200+02:004Europe/Amsterdam3030Europe/Amsterdam2023302023Tue, 27 Jun 2023 16:15:02 +0200154156pmTuesday=9#!30Tue, 27 Jun 2023 16:15:02 +0200+02:00Europe/Amsterdam6#06-27-2023#!30Tue, 27 Jun 2023 16:15:02 +0200+02:000230#/30Tue, 27 Jun 2023 16:15:02 +0200+02:00-4Europe/Amsterdam3030Europe/Amsterdam202330#!30Tue, 27 Jun 2023 16:15:02 +0200+02:00Europe/Amsterdam6#

Trigger warning: texts about sexual abuse

In the Netherlands, there are three women's prisons: the PI Zuid-Oost in Ter Peel, the PI Utrecht in Nieuwersluis, and the PI in Zwolle. Not long ago, it was revealed after an investigation that a lot is going wrong and has gone wrong in the PI in Nieuwersluis. In May 2023, the conclusion of that investigation, conducted by the Inspectorate of Justice and Security, was made public: incarcerated women in this prison have been victims of structurally non-integrity behavior, including sexual misconduct, inflicted upon them by the staff.

But Nieuwersluis turns out not to be the only institution where such things happen, and that is the reason Virginia (false name) decided to participate in the new documentary from Videoland: Sitting and Silence, she tells RTL News. She was incarcerated in Ter Peel and later in Nieuwersluis, and she is one of the women who is brave enough to share her story.

And what an impressive documentary this has become, but also one that makes you incredibly angry. That this happens, that women who are incarcerated there are treated this way… It is truly unbelievable. ‘Some women sometimes come out worse than they went in,’ is said about these women's prisons, and after watching the episodes of Sitting and Silence, I can very well imagine that.

‘Wow, what a beautiful vagina’ is something a guard says to one of the inmates, for example. They are touched multiple times, all over their bodies. Inmates are blackmailed: you only get your medication if you show your breasts to a guard. And of course, this is done where the cameras are not present.

I can give many more examples like this, but I would actually say: go watch this. It will stay with you for a long time, and I hope this documentary triggers a lot — that it at least has consequences. The director of Nieuwersluis did not want to give any interviews in front of the documentary makers' camera, but eventually, someone will have to respond to this, right? To be continued, I am sure of that.

Image: Videoland, Sitting and Silence