Astrid Tieke has been sleeping in different hotels since last week because she can no longer live safely at home. Her husband, who can be very aggressive at times due to his mental illness, threw her to the ground and tried to strangle her.
The 72-year-old woman from Hoofddorp flees the house at that time and finds protection with her neighbor. Her husband is taken by the police and is placed in a hotel, but the next morning the man is ‘normal’ again at the gallery in Overbos. She decided not to press charges. “Because, according to the police, that would be of no use without witnesses,” adds Astrid.
From hotel to hotel
“Someone from the Safe Home hotline immediately came to visit and advised me to flee the situation,” says Astrid. The employee will arrange an overnight stay at hotel De Beurs in Hoofddorp, but it will only be one night.
Astrid’s husband has psychological complaints and is being treated by a psychiatrist for dementia. In the meantime, he must report to the hospital himself, where they will investigate his situation. But he is unable to do so, the crisis service would have given that as a reason to withdraw. Despite the fact that he repeatedly threatened to take his own life or set his house on fire.
Astrid decides to go home anyway. But after two weeks of walking on eggshells in the house – out of fear for her husband – the situation turned out to be untenable. She leaves again for a hotel. First in Haarlem, then she stays in hotels in Leiden, Oegstgeest and Hoofddorp. She pays for it all out of her own pocket. Her savings are now almost exhausted.
Institutions point to each other
Together with Astrid, reporter Niels van Steijn therefore pays a visit to the town hall. The woman does not experience any support or understanding from the municipality, and even after hours of conversation with spokesmen for the municipal council, Astrid gets the answer that ‘Safe Home’ is the director.
But that organization does not care, they do not come up with a concrete solution for Astrid and point to the municipality. The ‘contact point’ also has no time to respond to questions from NH Nieuws. In the meantime, Astrid has only booked a hotel night with her last pocket money, but without a structural solution she will soon be on the street with her things.
In order to put the situation behind her as soon as possible, Astrid has filed for divorce. She is also in contact with a social worker from Stichting Meerwaarde.