Chantal van den Berg

Chantal van den Berg is Assistant Professor at the Criminal Law and Criminology department within the Faculty of Law at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She also holds positions as Assistant Professor at A-LAB and in the Empirical and Normative Studies program. Her academic career is deeply rooted at VU Amsterdam where she obtained both her BSc and MSc in Criminology, and later completed her PhD in 2015.

• BSc in Criminology from VU Amsterdam
• MSc in Criminology from VU Amsterdam
• PhD from VU Amsterdam (2015) on long term criminal careers of juvenile sex offenders

Chantal van den Berg specializes in sexual offending (particularly by juveniles) and sexual victimization. Her research also encompasses labor market discrimination, risk assessment for sexual offending, and collateral consequences of criminal conviction, with special attention to the Certificate of Conduct (VOG). She implements advanced research methods and statistics across her projects, reflecting her methodological expertise.

Her recent publications demonstrate consistent focus on sexual offending and victimization with increasing attention to digital contexts. She has published on risk assessment for transnational child sexual abuse, online disclosure of sexual victimization in the #MeToo era, and employment discrimination against those with cybercrime records. Her work frequently employs advanced statistical methods and network analysis, showcasing her methodological strengths.

Chantal co-supervises PhD projects of Marleen Gorissen on public online disclosure of sexual victimisation and Nora van Buitenen on network analysis of comorbidity in mentally ill prisoners. From 2020 to 2023, she was a project researcher on 'Evidence-based interventions for victims' led by Principal Investigator N. Elbers. She also serves as program leader of the research group on victimization at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR).

She teaches Victimology in the BSc Criminology program and advanced statistical courses in both BSc and MSc Criminology Research Talent Track. From 2017 to 2021, she chaired the Programme Committee for Criminology, and currently serves on the Examination Board of the Faculty of Law.