New podcast Intimate Terror by Sélina van Gool
Every eight days, a woman is murdered in the Netherlands. In many cases, victims of femicide are first victims of intimate terror: unilateral domestic violence, characterized by control and coercion. Partner or ex-partner violence is the most common form of domestic violence.
Sélina van Gool is a mother, author, and speaker. For more than ten years, she lived with Gers Pardoel in a relationship full of physical and mental violence—a world of intimate terror. In the new podcast series Intimate Terror, Van Gool gives victims of relationship violence a voice.
In the Netherlands, one in five women experiences partner violence. Fifteen percent of them become entangled in a dynamic of intimate terror. Van Gool's experiences are therefore not unique. In six episodes, she talks about the dynamics of power and powerlessness, trauma, escalation, and the safety net in the Netherlands. She talks to social workers, ex-perpetrators, victims, politicians, a former juvenile court judge, and the vice squad, among others.
Van Gool knows better than anyone what it is like to be a victim of relationship violence. With the podcast Intimate Terror and her book of the same name, she wants to break the taboo surrounding (ex-)partner violence and show what really lies behind the figures.
Intimate Terror takes a confrontational look at a social problem that occurs in all layers of society. One in five women in the Netherlands experiences partner violence, which means that Intimate Terror is closer than people often realize. The series is raw, honest, and hopeful: a podcast about violence, injustice, and trauma, but also about recovery and strength.
Podcast information:
- Title: Intimate Terror
- Host: Sélina van Gool
- Genre: Human interest
- Format: Interview podcast
- Number of episodes: 6
- Duration: 40 minutes per episode
- Live from: November 5, 2025
- Available on: all podcast apps
