Ongehoord Nederland will not be prosecuted for a discriminatory job posting for which several reports were filed last year. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) agrees that the text excludes non-binary people, but states that it does not constitute a criminal offense.
“You are a journalistic heavyweight (m/f, no ‘x’)”, the broadcaster wrote in the job posting for a new editor-in-chief. “Ongehoord Nederland excludes non-binary people from the position with this text. That is discrimination based on gender,” writes the Public Prosecution Service (OM).
The Public Prosecution Service refers to the Penal Code, which states that this form of discrimination is only punishable if it is done “in the exercise of an office, profession or business”. Because Ongehoord Nederland is a broadcasting association, this does not apply.
The Public Prosecution Service launched an investigation after several reports were filed about the text. ON! previously called the investigation exaggerated. ON!-lawyer Hakan Külcü stated that the text was intended to take a stand in the social debate.
The broadcaster believes that there are only two genders, namely male and female. “The woke ideology dominates and states that there are infinitely many genders,” Külcü said on behalf of the broadcaster. “We fight that: you cannot discriminate or exclude something that does not exist.”