The Hague – Pim V., an instructor at the Royal Academy of Art (KABK) is accused of
having photographed hundreds of female students up their skirts; pushing local
activists to meet with Holland’s municipalities with hopes of reinforcing laws against
sexual harassment.
Unlike many sexual harrasment stories that remain silent, this recent episode
became public after the professor was uncovered and arrested for taking a picture of
a woman in a fitting room.
The assaulted woman highlights the need for denoucing such behaviors for the sake
of other potential victims; especially regarding the prominence of sexual harassment
on the national scale.
67 percent of women in the Netherlands between the ages of 12 and 25 report
having been the target of sexual harassment; numbers on a steady rise according to
Statistics Netherlands (CBS) data.
Last week, Noemie Roussel (21 yo) a french student and her friend were wandering
through the streets of Rotterdam when a man groped her friend.
“I was shocked by what happened and it went so fast! I did not say anything but I
wish I acted differently, but you never know, he could have become aggressive when
called out”, Roussel said.
While these instances are increasing, the Chalk Back movement which emerged in
New York and was continued by many volunteers worldwide strives to further
mobilize people – notably men – in reacting to sexual harassment.
The movement consists in writing down inappropriate language some individuals
have encountered on the street, at the place of the incident.
Anneke van der Riet (28 yo) one of the representatives of the @catcallsofrot page on
Instagram, hopes to raise awareness on the prominence of sexual harassment in the
Netherlands.
“Our main objective is to show the victims they are not alone and educate people.
Ideally, this would also push witnesses, including men, to act”, van der Riet explains.
Lucas Snijder (22 yo), a student in Groningen who once called out a friend for
catcalling shares similar thoughts. “I believe males are not only not educated enough
on inappropriate behaviours, but there are also too few witnesses to react.” Snijder
claims.
On the 25th of September, @catcallsofrot representatives met with the Rotterdam municipality and
WMO Radar – an organization specialising in producing data on societal issues – in
order to discuss a plan of action to reduce street harassment in Holland.
Van de Riet believes that the Dutch government should further focus on legislative
measures instead, as it will also increase the police’s enforcement power.
While no concrete consensus has been reached yet, actions to educate the
population and witnesses on how to act are among future municipality plans.
A new potential law will not come into effect by 2023 or 2024, according to van der
Riet. This is because municipalities “creatively clear their responsibilities out by
labelling sexual harassment as ‘nuisance in the public area’, rather than a
punishable crime” van der Riet says.
More reaction to sexual harassment, a pervasive societal issue in the Netherlands is
thus expected from the public.
