{"id":181212,"date":"2025-09-02T10:14:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T08:14:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=181212"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:54","slug":"wij-eisen-de-nacht-op-protest-in-den-haag-eur-onderzoek-biedt-hoop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2025\/09\/02\/wij-eisen-de-nacht-op-protest-in-den-haag-eur-onderzoek-biedt-hoop\/","title":{"rendered":"‘We reclaim the night’ protest in The Hague, EUR research offers hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

Under the slogan ‘the night is ours’ demonstrations were held on Saturday at dozens of locations across the Netherlands. In The Hague, hundreds attended. The night is and feels very unsafe for many women, and the demonstrators want to change that. The research project T@ckle at Erasmus University might contribute to that: it will be studying offline and online sexually transgressive behaviour and sexual violence.<\/p>\n

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Under the slogan 'the night is ours' demonstrations were held at dozens of locations across the Netherlands at the end of August. In The Hague hundreds of people gathered.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDaan Stam<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

\u201cI damn well want Lisa back. I want Bouchra back. I want Clarinda back. And Wendy. And Shamila. And Paro. And Zehra. And Gea. Nadine, Sanne, Joeweela, Mala, Laura, Annemiek, Eva, Jolanda, Shelly, and Linda back.\u201d With every name the The Hague alderwoman Marielle Vavier lists, the crowd gets more goosebumps. \u201cThe anger we feel is intense and that anger is justified.\u201d Her voice breaks occasionally. The applause of the hundreds of demonstrators rings out loudly in The Hague. \u201cOur bodies are ours. Our lives are ours. The streets are ours. The night is ours.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old Lyn is holding a sign reading \u2018The system failed another woman<\/em>\u2018. \u201cBecause Lisa even phoned 112 when it happened\u201d, she says. The Social Work student at The Hague University of Applied Sciences felt she had to be here. \u201cLater, this will be my field of work. Besides, I am part of this city, and I too often feel unsafe.\u201d She scans the crowd. \u201cIt feels good to see that I\u2019m\u00a0not alone in that fear and anger about what is happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The hundreds of demonstrators marched through nocturnal The Hague after the programme on the stage.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDaan Stam<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Of all times<\/h2>

Violence against women is as old as time, and the increase in modern technologies feeds that violence<\/a>. On social media the threshold for violent expressions is lower. Research<\/a> shows this online violence spills over into physical violence against women. For the first time other research shows that young European men are more tolerant of violence against women<\/a> than older men. Queer people<\/a>, trans women<\/a>, women of colour, Muslims<\/a> are more often victims of violence. Black trans women are most of all<\/a> targeted.<\/p>\n

All of this is noticeable in the Netherlands too. Every eight days a woman is murdered<\/a>, more than half of them by an (ex-)partner<\/a>. This summer, at least six young women between eleven and nineteen<\/a> were harassed in Rotterdam by an unknown man on a scooter. In early August a girl was abused<\/a> by a man in Zuiderpark. Since the violent death of 17-year-old Lisa<\/a>, who was pulled from her bike after a night out, more and more people, especially women, have expressed their anger about the violence and the ever-present fear over women\u2019s safety. The national action \u2018We reclaim the night\u2019<\/a> was born.<\/p>\n

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Many demonstrators brought signs and lights so the messages were readable in the dark.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDaan Stam<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Hope for change<\/h2>

Eva (27) came to the protest with three other women and two men. One of her friends carries a sign reading \u2018Protect your daughters. Educate your sons<\/em>\u2018. \u201cGood that there are a lot of men here tonight as well\u201d, says Eva. \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t\u00a0 be the ones to have to adapt, the perpetrators must stop.\u201d Men should call each other out on inappropriate remarks and behaviour, she thinks. \u201cI find the evening quite intense. It\u2019s beautiful and emotional to hear all those names and see how many people recognise this. If so many people experience this, then something really needs to change quickly. But I also don\u2019t know how you do that, or where to start.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hope could come from the Erasmus University. Earlier this year, the research project T@ckle, led by professor Daphne van de Bongardt (Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences), received just over 2.8 million euros in funding. It is a five-year research project into offline and online sexually transgressive behaviour and sexual violence, with the main aim of contributing to a more effective integrated approach. T@ckle<\/a> stands for Transdisciplinary Analysis and Co-creation of Knowledge to Lead Efforts against Online and Offline Sexually Transgressive Behaviour and Sexual Violence<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018With T@ckle, we are specifically not focusing on increasing the resilience of girls and women\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

\u201cWith T@ckle we are specifically not<\/i> focusing on increasing the resilience of girls and women\u201d, Van de Bongardt, professor of relational and sexual development, education and health and founder of Erasmus Love Lab, tells me by email. \u201cThat has been done for too long, is not effective, and contributes to victim blaming.\u201d The research project wants to investigate, expose and tackle the systems behind transgressive behaviour. For example, to see what effect certain language in the media has. It will also look at how bystanders can respond better. \u201cThis work is not only aimed at girls and women; boys and men are also victims.\u201d<\/p>\n

Van de Bongardt: \u201cThis is a historically large investment by the government in this topic.\u201d Although other allocations from the Dutch Research Agenda often receive more money. \u201cBut of course we won\u2019t complain, because we can do a lot and we will also focus on spin-offs from this project.\u201d Thirty-four organisations are involved in the project, including universities and expertise organisations such as Rutgers and the Centre for Sexual Violence. Erasmus University is the main applicant for the project. \u201cOf course we at the university and at Erasmus Love Lab are incredibly proud of this, and we are currently working extremely hard to start the project on 1 October.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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Een lijst van afbeeldingen<\/h2>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t
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