The Party for Neighbourly Love, Freedom, and Diversity (, PNVD), alternatively the Charity, Freedom, and Diversity Party, was a political party and a paedophile advocacy group in the Netherlands. It existed without parliamentary representation The party was originally founded on 31 May 2006 by three self-described paedophile. Starting with the 2006 general election, the PNVD failed to contest electorally as it was unable to collect the 30 signatures from each of the 19 Dutch electoral regions it required to get on the ballot. On 14 March 2010, the party was dissolved.
The PNVD was momentarily revived on 7 August 2020, with as leader and original co-founder Norbert de Jonge as secretary-treasurer. Former party leader indicated that he would not return to politics and was considering leaving the country. On 5 June 2022, authorities in Mexico City arrested Maatman on suspicion of human trafficking and possession of child pornography and a firearm, and the PNVD again dissolved.
Platform
According to their official statement, the PNVD's platform aimed to maximise diversity and liberty.
Sexuality
The PNVD sought to have the legal age of consent lowered to 12, and, in the long run, eliminated (except in dependent or intrafamilial relationships). They reason that only "coerced" or "dangerous" sexual activity should be punished. They also aimed to equalise the legal age where one can perform in pornography with the legal age of consent. Prostitution would be legal at the age of 16. Because of their controversial viewpoints on children and sexuality, they were often called the "paedo-party" by the people and in the media.
Also, the party's platform called for separate imprisonment facilities for sex offenders, arguing that the country would otherwise have indirect torture laws. In a May 2006 opinion poll, 82% of respondents wanted the Dutch government to stop the party from competing in the elections. The anti-paedophile foundation "Soelaas" petitioned the courts to ban the party, but the judges ruled in the PNVD's favour. "The freedom of expression, the freedom of assembly and the freedom of association [...] should be seen as the foundations of the democratic rule of law and the PNVD is also entitled to these freedoms," the court said in a statement.
The party's ties to paedophile activism have drawn much attention: Uittenbogaard (who also starred in the controversial documentary Are All Men Pedophiles?) was earlier the treasurer of Vereniging Martijn, an organisation which advocates romantic and sexual relationships between adults and children, and all of its founders have identified as paedophiles. As of 2023, he is serving a ten-year prison sentence in Ecuador for the production of child pornography.
Former party treasurer was convicted in 1987 for a relationship with an eleven-year-old boy. He was fined and given a suspended prison sentence. The Dutch television show Netwerk monitored Van den Berg for three months and discovered that he still had an underage boyfriend. Van den Berg passed away in early 2023, aged 78.
In June 2006, Norbert de Jonge was expelled from his special education course at the Radboud University Nijmegen, owing to his involvement with the party and identification as a paedophile.
The party's name was abbreviated as NVD at its formation, but shortly thereafter, the security company sought a legal order to have the party change their initials, saying that the party using the same abbreviation violated their trademark and harmed their reputation. The challenge was successful, and the party changed its initials to PNVD.
See also
- List of political parties in the Netherlands
- List of paedophile advocacy organisations
- Child pornography laws in the Netherlands
- Dutch Society for Sexual Reform
- Vereniging Martijn
- North American Man/Boy Love Association
- Edward Brongersma
- Frits Bernard
- Joop Wilhelmus