Netherlands town launches 'Project Orange Sun' to prevent sex on the beach

A town named Veere in the south of Netherlands launched a campaign to stop nudist beach goers from engaging in sex on the beach. Veere is located about 160 km southwest of Amsterdam.

This week, the local municipality put up amended beachside boards. The boards warned beach visitors that the dunes are legally off limits, public sex is banned and there is "increased monitoring" to combat "sexual meeting place activities in the dunes, nature reserve and beach."

Project Oranjezon: The anti-sex campaign to dissuade sex on the beach

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The municipality has launched "Project Oranjezon" or orange sun.

It was inspired by a number of complaints to the municipality, water board and local nature organisation about "sex acts carried out by naked recreationists", The Guardian reported.

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"The dunes are hugely important to the local community and must be protected from undesirable behaviour that damages the natural environment and can disturb other holidaymakers," Veere’s mayor, Frederiek Schouwenaar, was quoted as saying by The Observer.

"[This] is an important step to ensure public order and safety."

It has been reported that there will be no more warnings from authorities, but immediate "verbal" enforcement and eight new information boards bang the message home.

Criticism from naturist organisations

Meanwhile, a few naturist organisations said that there must be a distinction between nude sunbathing and sexual activity.

Karlien Lodewijk, a spokesperson for the NFN Open en Bloot (open and bare) naked recreation association, told The Guardian: "Sex outdoors is not naked recreation, and people who come to sunbathe find it just as much of a nuisance as other people do. Naked recreation gives a real feeling of freedom, and it’s very healthy to see real, naked bodies that are not photoshopped."

"But we distance ourselves from sex outdoors."

Many others decried conservative notions surrounding the sex in general.

"It has become a bit of a trend in the Netherlands and other countries that, because of a conservative movement, people who are less happy about sexuality and nudity have a louder voice," Yuri Ohlrichs, a sexologist and senior consultant at Rutgers, the Netherlands Centre on Sexuality told The Guardian.

"That’s what we are seeing with this outdoor sex in the dunes [ban]. Who does it bother? Someone who does it in order to be seen is breaking the Dutch law by confronting people with sexuality against their wishes."

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