commentary
The so-called hissing ban still seems like a paper tiger. The use of special boas in seven municipalities has only resulted in six fines since the ban came into effect two years ago. While the majority of women suffer from street intimidation, political reporter Hans van Soest writes in this commentary.
Parliamentary reporter and columnist
Unfortunately, it has become second nature for many women, especially in the larger cities. Always be wary of a group of (young) men. Avoid certain streets. Pretend you don’t hear anything when you’re on your bike and a car drives up close to you and a man hangs out of the window to make lewd propositions to you. Being sedated. Being called a whore. Boys who walk annoyingly close behind you.
According to CBS, three-quarters of women aged 18 to 21 are sometimes intimidated on the street. For girls between 14 and 18 years old, this is about seven in ten. These are disturbingly high numbers that a society should never accept.
There are no figures yet on how often the police have successfully acted against the ubiquitous sis terror on our streets. The number of times that the boas, specially trained for this purpose, have performed does not bode well.
But let’s not pretend too easily that the new law is a failure.
The problem is that perpetrators must be able to be caught red-handed. A whole list must then be checked to see whether something is punishable. For example, whistling at someone once is not punishable, but in combination with other behavior it can be.
When the change in law was announced, Police unions already warned that the law would be difficult to implement. If the official evaluation of the law comes soon and it turns out that it needs to be tightened up here and there, politicians should certainly not hesitate to do so. But let’s not pretend too easily that the new law is a failure.
A law also aims to set a standard. And ultimately it is up to parents to raise their sons better. It is up to men to address each other about the street terror against women. Because the fact that so many women are sometimes afraid to go out on the street is something that the legislature cannot solve alone.
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