Workers in the Dutch healthcare system are set to stop working for two minutes on May 2 at 2pm in protest of violence against healthcare workers. Their silence will also commemorate the death of a healthcare worker in Heerlen, who was stabbed to death while on duty at a psychiatric hospital.

Professional organisation for care workers calls for silent protest

NU'91, a professional organisation for those working in healthcare called on workers and those who support healthcare workers to take part in the protest and draw more attention to the “increasing aggression towards healthcare workers”, as reported by the AD. Chairman Femke Merel van Kooten asks: “How many more victims must there be?”.

The Dutch Mental Healthcare Association supports the protest and its employees: "Violence in society is increasing and we also see this in mental health institutions. We cannot and will never accept violence against care workers,” the umbrella organisation told the AD. The professional association of caregivers and nurses V&VN will also take part in the protest. 

Care worker killed in Limburg in April 2024

The protest follows a stabbing which killed a 39-year-old care worker in Limburg at the Mondriaan Institute. The suspect is a 29-year-old woman who has been arrested since the incident on April 15 and is understood to be a former patient of the victim, who died from her injuries on April 23.

Workers at the Mondriaan Institute will also be taking part in the protest. "We honour Melanie by observing two minutes of silence on May 2 at 2pm and by continuing to strive for a world where love, care and compassion always triumph,” a spokesperson for the organisation stated.