The murder of 17-year-old Lisa from Abcoude, who was attacked by bike, shocked the entire country. The drama also does not leave Tom Schiphorst untouched. He came up with an initiative to make the way home safer.
“Lisa has released the conversation,” he explains. “I had been walking with this idea for some time, but because of everything that happens around it – the discussions, protests and the anger – I thought: we have to do something now.”
Women and girls who feel unsafe or have to cycle home alone in the evening can go to Loetje between 11 p.m. and 1 p.m. There is an opportunity to look for someone who has to go in the same direction, or to wait for a taxi. “Loetje as a base is a conscious choice,” continues Tom. “We don’t want women and girls to report somewhere on the edge of the village. The restaurant is central, is recognizable and accessible. Fortunately they were immediately open to it.”
Exactly on the cycle route
“We are happy to participate, because there is little public transport and we are exactly on the cycle route to Alkmaar,” says Esmee van Loetje. “If there turns out to be a lot of need and it is a success, we definitely want to continue this.”
“For now it is a pilot,” Tom emphasizes. “Maybe nobody uses it, but then we have offered the chance. The idea that a girl is being pulled on the Bergerweg of her bike – you shouldn’t think about that,” he says. “Then rather an extra service. Fortunately, something like this has never happened during Bergen Live, but prevention is better than cure.”
For all male visitors he has a final message: “Do you behave and keep your legs at home. So that everyone can just go home safely.”
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