‘My girlfriend always carries pepper spray in her going-out jacket,’ says psychology student Lucas Tardjopawiro. He is going out for drinks himself. ‘It makes her feel safer on the streets. It was confiscated by the police once, but then her father gave her a new one. It’s a shame that it’s necessary, but I do get it. Apparently, it's not safe on Breestraat.’
Tardjopawiro is not afraid to ride his bike down Breestraat as a man. ‘I feel like statistically, men are less likely to be harassed. It’s not as much of a concern for me personally. But I don’t know if that’s a good thing, maybe I should be scared too.’
Female students feel quite differently. ‘I never used to worry much while out on the streets,’ says Joos, a member of Dinsdag Avond Club (DAC). Like many other students, she does not want her surname to be mentioned in the article. ‘Whenever my mother told me to watch out on the streets, I always brushed it off as nonsense. Now, I feel like I really need to bike home with someone. Breestraat, where DAC is located, is a hotspot for creepy characters.’
NO STREET LIGHTING
For Joos, it is even more personal, because she knows one of the victims. ‘When I cycle home, I pass through areas without street lighting. Even there, I feel safer than I do here. And Breestraat is quite a busy street. If it happens there, it can happen anywhere.’
A friend of hers, Ferdi, is also worried, but not for himself. ‘I notice that it’s bothering the people around me, and that really gets to me. I have a harder time now seeing my girlfriend walk down the street alone when she’s had a drink. I want to help her, but of course, I can’t force her to cycle with someone. It’s difficult to find that line.’
According to him, it is important that men do not make light of the situation. ‘I find it very offensive when men make jokes about it.’
‘Cheers to safety on the streets!', shout two drunken male students at Café de Kroeg. They prefer to remain anonymous. ‘There are a lot of text messages going around now saying: make sure you cycle home with the women from the association. If it makes the women feel safer, I’m happy to do that.’ The other student adds jokingly: ‘Usually, I have to take him home because he’s too drunk.’
A few tables over, we find Sofie and her friends. She is a member of Quintus and has noticed that everyone there has become more vigilant. ‘If board members see that you’re about to go home alone, they stop you. “Don’t go home alone, find someone to bike home with,” they tell you.’
ANXIOUS MOTHER
Parents are also reacting with great concern to the recent rape and sexual assaults, says Yesim over drinks at Café L'Espérance. ‘Yesterday I got an anxious call from my mother telling me to hold my keys in my hand when walking back home. I was out having dinner with a friend at the time. I decided to head home earlier.’
‘I usually take a busier street when I go home’, Sheno Djamshidi adds. ‘For example, I purposely go through Herenstraat because it’s more crowded there. It takes a little longer to cycle home that way but it’s a sacrifice I'm willing to make.’
Underneath a shelter on Sint Jorissteeg, a few SSR members are having a smoke. ‘I no longer walk alone at night,’ says Nina Zwartendijk. ‘Even though I live only two streets away. Our housemate has a rape whistle.’ Fellow society member Amke Beelen: ‘If you’re attacked and you freeze up or lose your voice, you can blow on it really hard to draw attention. You can put it on your keychain.’
On the night of Saturday March 9, around 300 people participated in a protest march in Leiden’s city centre, with the theme ‘The street belongs to everyone’.
The march was in response to a recent rape and multiple cases of sexual assault against young women and was initiated by Top Fifty Women of Leiden, a network of influential women in politics, education, business and the cultural sector.
Among the participants were councillors, aldermen and acting mayor Peter van der Velden. Nienke Ledegang, part of the top 50, said the following about the march in Leidsch Dagblad: ‘We want to offer encouragement and support to the young women who are being harassed. It’s ridiculous that they should be afraid to go out on the streets.’
Mayor Van der Velden told Hart van Nederland: ‘We want everyone to be able to walk through the city as they wish.’
‘There are extra police on the streets during the day now,’ says Shabann Oomen, also among the group. ‘I asked the officers: but doesn’t it usually happen at night? They replied: I’d still keep an eye out during the day, because on Thursday at ten in the morning, another girl was assaulted.’ The police would not confirm this incident to Mare. A recent press release has said there was one rape and two assault, as well as an increase in the number of harassments.
Oomen says she also feels more unsafe on the streets. ‘When I was cycling down Lammenschansweg a few days ago, a long grey car started following me all of a sudden. My heart was pounding.’
QUICK ON THE BIKE
On Tuesday night at 11.30 pm, Hungarian student Ilka cycles home alone via Breestraat; she is surprised by the recent events. ‘I’m from Budapest, a big city with a lot of crime. When I moved to the Netherlands, I always felt safe on the streets. I never thought a rape would happen here.’
Nevertheless, she does still feel safe on the streets. ‘It's not that late, and there are still plenty of people out and about. I feel comfortable cycling. You have more control. If something happens, I’m pretty quick on the bike. I don’t know if I would walk home alone, though.’
Student Maartje does: from Café In De Oude Marenpoort, she walks home via Breestraat. ‘I understand why women are hesitant to be out on the streets by themselves now. But I’m not going to lock myself up. Weird men don’t get to decide when I go out.’