Police are looking for witnesses to an attack on a teenager in a playground in Amstelveen on Monday afternoon.

The girl, Frédérique (14) was accosted by a group of boys who demanded to know if she was ‘a boy or a girl’, the victim’s father said on LinkedIn, where messages of support have been pouring in.

When she answered ‘what does that matter? I am who I am and you can be whatever you want to be’ she was repeatedly hit in the face. Her father said she had to go to hospital to be treated for a fractured jaw and a broken nose.

Police are looking for five boys between the ages of 11 and 14 and are currently studying surveillance camera footage from the area. They are treating the attack as possibly related to violence aimed at the LGBTI community, which they said is being treated as a priority.

The girl’s father said he is ‘incredibly proud’ of his daughter, who is now recovering at home. ‘My child Frédérique is not transgender, she just says she is who she is,’ he told broadcaster NH Nieuws.