Around 130 participants stepped on the bike in Coevorden at midnight to draw attention to femicide and violence against women. Under the name ‘De Nacht is also our’, the participants here, just like in many other places in the country, stepped on the pedals.
With illuminated bicycles, the group kicked through the streets of Coevorden. This also happened in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, among others. During the bike ride, cyclists regularly stopped at places that are experienced by women as unsafe.
The reason for the campaign was the violent death of 17-year-old Lisa from Abcoude, after a night out in Amsterdam. A few days earlier, a woman was mistreated and sexually abused on the Weesperzijde in Amsterdam. Someone was arrested for this crime, who later turned out to be the suspect of the murder of Lisa.
Prior to the bike ride there was a meeting on the Markt in Coevorden, about 150 people came to that. “That was really very special. We had hoped for something about one hundred, but this was more than our wildest dreams.”
Several women spoke about their personal experiences, talking about the need to discuss mistreatment and to break taboos. Spokesperson and organizer Mireille Sampimon-Sembatya also took the floor. Her commitment to Dolle Mina also comes from her personal experiences. She was in a women’s shelter sixteen years ago after a violent relationship.
That so many people came to the bike ride is telling according to Sampimon-Sembatya. “They were people from different municipalities of Drenthe municipalities. That is very nice to see. I think people really are completely sick and tired of not being able to go home safely. I think it also plays in Coevorden that there was two incidents. That was not aimed at women and does not look like a random violence, but there is just a certain place if you don’t know that there is not a certain place if you don’t know that there is not a certain place that there is not a certain place. by.”
The route led from the EDS square towards the Steenwijksmoer, among others. “At a certain point you drive along a piece of business site with piled sea containers. There are lampposts there, but they are not on. That problem seems relatively easy to solve,” says Sampimon-Sembatya.
But the underlying problem of violence against women and femicide “is not what was solved today or tomorrow,” she says. “That is a joint, social problem. We see that the municipality of Coevorden immediately stood behind the action. We are super happy that they have been hooked up, but that also creates expectations. The expectation that Coevorden and all Drenthe municipalities will look at what they can do to increase safety on the street.”
Mayor Renze Bergsma (CDA) also addressed the participants. In his speech, he emphasized that violence against women is not only a private problem, but also a social issue. “What kind of world we live in,” the mayor wondered.