Vereniging MARTIJN
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| Formation | 1982 (dissolved by Supreme Court in 2014) |
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| Purpose | To advocate the acceptance of pedophilia and legalization of sexual relationships between adults and children |
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Region served
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 Netherlands
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Official language
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Dutch |
| Leader | Ad van den Berg |
Vereniging MARTIJN ("MARTIJN Union") was a Dutch association that advocated the societal acceptance of pedophilia and legalization of sexual relationships between adults and children.
The organization began in 1984. It claimed that it fought for "the social and societal acceptance of child-adult relationships", emphasising what they called the "consent of both child and adult" and the "freedom for the child to withdraw from the relationship". It claimed to be in favour of "objective, scientifically verifiable truth and against political terror and discrimination."
From 1986 till 2006 the group published OK Magazine, available only through the mail and not in retail stores, featuring essays, letters, interviews and photographs of scantily clad or naked children, mostly boys.
MARTIJN was expelled from the International Lesbian and Gay Association in 1994. The group was seen as "widely reviled" though Dutch prosecutors initially formed the view that it could not be prosecuted.
In 2003 Vereniging MARTIJN faced opposition by the Actiecomité Stop MARTIJN (Action Committee Stop MARTIJN), which organized demonstrations against them. Formed and led by Michiel Smit of the New Right, Florens van der Kooi of the NNP, as well as Inge Bleecke of Moeders tegen Pedofilie (Mothers against Pedophilia), the committee was labelled as extreme right by their opponents.
The organization was in the news in October 2007 when it was learned that photographs of Princess Catharina-Amalia (then aged 3½), daughter of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange (now King) and his wife Princess Maxima (now Queen), were on display on the website's forum. The Prince went to court to request a €50,000 fine and the removal of the photos from the website. The court agreed that the photos must be removed, and imposed a fine of €5,000 to be paid every time photos of children of the royal family are placed on the site again. The organisation had to pay €1,235 in costs.
The home of the organization's president, Ad van den Berg, was raided by police in October 2010; downloads of illegal material had been traced back to Van den Berg's internet connection. It was announced in March 2011 that large quantities of child pornography were found among the confiscated material, and even more material, including computers, was confiscated when Van den Berg was arrested on 29 March.
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Wikipedia