Noa Pothovan ***MNHQ adding trigger warning and further noting that the details of this story are disputed***

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Noa, 17, chose to end her life via euthanasia in the Netherlands.

According to the media, Noa was sexually assaulted at 11 and raped at 14. She suffered from PTSD and anorexia.

She supposedly saw herself as 'dirty'.

Time after time, girls are being subjected to the most awful cruelty at the expense of others who can't control their behaviour.

My understanding of feminism is about fighting for the protection of children.
It is about challenging victim blaming.
It is about calling out sexism and stereotypes.
It is about raising young girls to become confident and make decisions that suit their chosen life (SAHM, business owner, punk rocker, whatever).
It is about raising our boys to blossom into caring men who are respectful of boundaries and make positive choices for their lives too.
It is about checking our own behaviour and language.

Times have changed thanks to women talking and protesting. So much so that I read comments so often online along the lines of, 'feminists have equality now, so what are they moaning about.'

FWR members frequently discuss:

Justice for women and children who have suffered abuse.
Lack of mental health provision and healthcare for women and girls.
Body image.
Social media.

All of the above were part of Noa's story.

This is why women need to keep talking about women's rights, no matter how often we are called bigots, old fashioned, boring or ungrateful for being given a foot into the boardroom.

It is about ensuring that girls don't think that they are dirty. That we talk about our bodies and talk about sexual consent and respectful boundaries.

Noa:

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7103019/Dutch-girl-17-legally-ends-life-euthanasia-clinic.html

What a terrible story - almost impossible to know how to respond.And yes OP - we will continue to speak out for women no matter how awful the opposition.

This story really upset me. I'm broadly in favour of the right to euthanasia but not in this case. That poor girl. How can the solution to the trauma inflicted on her be for the state to support her in ending her life, rather than supporting her in overcoming her trauma. Just heartbreaking and really ethically troubling.

I read this earlier and I was flapping my jaw like a stunned fish in shock. There are times when I'm fairly ashamed to say I'm pro life, because of what it gets associated with, but I cannot possibly see how it can be considered a positive thing that this poor young woman was driven to sanctioned suicide. I'm truly horrified. She has been utterly, comprehensively let down by so many people - her abusers, her rapist, and her state. Horrific.

Oh no.

I honestly don't know what else to say.

A girl of 17.

I don’t know what to say. Poor poor wee lass.

It's heartbreaking. The poor lass

Bloody hell.

I despair.

It is heartbreaking.

I've always had doubts about euthanasia and am shocked that this has happened.

How could they possibly agree there was no prospect of improvement? She was 17 FFS. So, so sad.

I have no words.

I just have no words. None.

Noa - I'm so so incredibly sorry that you were hurt by so many people, none of this should have happened - not then, and not now.

How the fuck did doctors think it was ethical to euthanise a child of 17? Just how? How do they sleep at night? This is medical malpractice bordering on straightforward murder (not even manslaughter, murder).

I used to be a supporter of voluntary euthanasia. Then I read that in countries where it is legal, including for mental illness, far more women than men choose to be euthanised. We have a society in which women are at far higher risk of depression and mental illness because shitty things like rape and sexual assault are far more likely to happen to them, leaving them with lifelong mental health issues.

So what do we do? Tackle the crime (the root cause)? Improve mental health services for women to help heal the damage?

Do we fuck. We help to kill children in mental distress because of the violence men have perpetrated against them.

I can only assume that her severe anorexia meant that she was suffering from organ failure and therefore was dying slowly. This is the only possibly reason I can think of for legalised euthanasia to be allowed for such a young person.

The only people who should feel dirty are the sick individuals who do these crimes.

I heard about this on the radio (BBC radio 4) yesterday, just went to search the BBC and Guardian website to get more details, and incredibly there was nothing there. The story was covered elsewhere though (Times, Metro, Sun, Mail). I also found it incredible that the courts ruled that there was no prospect of life improving for this poor girl. She was 17 ffs. Fuck men and their sexual abuse of children, fuck society for not caring and help her recover.

I think she was dying from severe anorexia and in a lot of pain before she had help to commit suicide. It's not medical murder. It was an act of medical compassion when all else had failed. There had for sure been failings. Many, many of them. But giving this poor kid control over her body at the end wasn't one.

The british news is incorrect on some facts. She asked for euthanasia but her request was turned down. She then committed suicide by not eating and drinking.

It’s a terrible situation but I do think there’s a key difference that it wasn’t typical euthanasia - ie she was prescribed an overdose of medication which she then took herself or was helped to take, but she stopped eating or drinking and was made comfortable as she died, rather being force-fed or hydrated.

We all have the right, even in this country to refuse medical treatment even if it will kill us, unless we are deemed to be not of sound mind (and we are talking psychotic rather than depressed).

I read this yesterday. For Noa

It is heartbreaking to read and of course we all wish she had been able to live. This poor child was badly badly abused and she herself could not overcome it. Yes she was let down. But, if I have this right, she was already not eating and had done irreparable damage to her little body. It was more about letting her go early and without more pain. That’s my understanding.
All I have is sympathy for her and her mother right now. A tragic story.

Utterly heartbreaking - I simply don't know what else to say right now.

RIP Noa sorry this world let you down so badly

I just don’t have any words. I am so utterly disgusted with men who rape and abuse women and girls. What the fuck is wrong with those men, to rape a young girl of 11. What the fuck went wrong in their heads. They have ruined this girl’s life, to the point that she wanted to end it. It’s time this shit stopped happening, is it 1 in 4 women have been sexually assaulted? Not fucking good enough, men. Not good enough at all.

I just started a separate thread as I didn't realise this one was running. (have asked MNHQ to remove it)

Share token to the Times piece.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/teenage-anorexic-noa-pothoven-assisted-suicide-netherlands-pgnlj6lj3?shareToken=c63d4d868dd20e2699de1891bd0ec2a3

It is devastating to read that Noa believed she had no other options and was able to take this route under Dutch law. Surely she cannot have had capacity to give safe, informed consent?

My heart goes out to Noa's family at this very sad time, but it is often stated here when discussing teens wanting to transition, and especially girls with ROGD, that we don't allow people with anorexia to starve themselves without intervention and yet here we have a young girl who has been allowed to die in a euthanasia clinic.

When will we realise that we need to invest in decent mental health services for teenagers?

As cranston said, there is a lot of misinformation about this in the press.

She was not euthanised. Courts decided that, whilst she was determined and there was no further medical care that could be given that she would accept, she was refused euthanasia. Given her determination all they could do was support her whilst she starved herself to death.

She was supported, she had access to mental health care (bizarrely another thread has people decrying Holand for not having any!) and she made very determined efforts to kill herself.

It wasn't so much needing infomred consent but that she was doing this, she was starving herself to death in the face of being told she could not access euthenasia.

twitter.com/NaomiOhReally/status/1136189899672084480

more on the reporting 'mistake' that happened when the original Dutch stories were translated into English

Thanks for that beagadorsrock I was looking for something in English, my Dutch friend can only do so much and isn't a credible source of information!

Hopefully many newspapers will be doing as at least one Italian paper has done, printing a correction!