The murder of a 17-year-old girl who was stabbed to death while biking home after a night out in Amsterdam last week has sent shockwaves through the normally placid city—and country. The death of the young women, identified only as Lisa, has become a rallying cry for those demanding action to combat violence against women. 

Lisa’s body was found on the side of a fairly deserted road in Duivendrecht at 4:15am on August 20.

The week after the brutal stabbing, buildings around the country were bathed in orange—the UN’s chosen colour to highlight and combat violence against women—to remember and pay tribute to the young victim.

There have been countrywide protests, vigils, silent marches and a “We Claim the Night” crowd-funding campaign that raised some €500,000 in three days before it was shut down while organizers figure out what to do with the unexpected sum of money they raised.

Slogans like “Reclaim the Night” and “Let Women Get Home Safely” were heard loud and clear throughout the Netherlands as activists and ordinary citizens demanded political solutions to keep women safe.

In a country where violent crime is rare and murder even rarer—there were just 120 murders in the Netherlands last year —Lisa’s case has dominated headlines and conversations.

Last week, a 22-year-old asylum seeker was arrested for her murder and two other recent sexual assaults, including a rape on the Weesperzijde in Amsterdam’s east on 15 August. “The criminal investigation is in full swing and is our highest priority,” Franklin Wattimena, press officer for the city’s Public Prosecution Service, told Dutch News.

But despite it all, many of Amsterdam’s young women are nervous.

Alert and afraid

“Now I’m more conscious about everything, I’m more alert,” says one 16-year-old Amsterdam high school student who doesn’t want to use her name. “I don’t wear my noise cancelling ear buds anymore, because I want to hear everything, and I rarely walk alone.”

Like many young women here, she thinks the city is getting more dangerous. And they’re taking matters into their own hands.

“Before this terrible crime happened, I was already a bit nervous or precautious going out and going home alone,” says 23-year-old office manager Tatum.

“I sometimes go to parties near the Sloterdijk area, and I’ll never leave there alone. I am always holding my hand above my cup just in case someone drugs you. Me and my friends also never let anyone leave in a taxi alone, especially after this. We agreed that now we will not let anyone go home alone, bike alone or take a taxi alone.”

In this country where pepper spray is illegal, viral TikTok posts point women to everyday aerosols from deodorant to first aid sprays and the now sold-out “Smurfenspray” or Smurf spray, which covers those who come in contact with it a blue hue that can last for a few days.

Another viral video shows two young women asking someone to develop an app that women in danger can use to alert nearby people to come to their aid.

Closer to home

“It’s always important to think about your safety, but I also don’t want to victim blame and give advice like ‘you should never cycle there or you should never drink too much’, because guys should stop harassing and violating girls sexually,” says Roos Koolhof, a healthcare psychologist who works with victims and those at risk of sexual assault for Levvel/Qpido.

Koolhof makes a distinction between what happened to Lisa and other types of sexual assault, saying when it comes to keeping women and young girls safe, it’s important to look closer to home.

“A girl being murdered by an unknown person or man is very disturbing but doesn’t happen very often,” she says. “Mostly assaults happen in a familiar atmosphere—86% of the time—by the neighbour or your stepfather or a boyfriend or a friend or someone they meet on social media.

“Although we don’t know if the motive for Lisa’s attack was sexual, what happened to her and the other two victims is totally terrible. But what happens more often is a slap on the ass or touching someone somewhere they don’t like, and that is what we should talk about so it won’t happen anymore.”

Pessimism

The mother of the 16-year-old Amsterdam student says she is also a bit nervous letting her daughter go out at night, but she says she doesn’t think there is much she can do to prevent an attack.

“Most victims of femicide are killed by someone they know, not by a stranger jumping out of the bushes,” she says. “There will always be a psychopath out there. There is no solution—unless we put men in a special reservation.”

That fatalism was echoed by 20-year-old Amsterdammer Susy. “There are gross men out there, and unfortunately they will never disappear from this world,” she says. “Personally, I’ve noticed that I’m not necessarily afraid of men in general… but if they walk too close behind me or stand too close to me on the subway, I get disgusted and angry and walk away.”

The 16-year-old Amsterdam student adds that she doesn’t often walk alone at night anymore, or when she does, she calls someone to speak with or shares her live location.

“But even that is not really enough,” she adds. “Lisa was speaking with the police, and they were still too late.”

Victims of sexual assault can reach out to the Sexual Assault Center for help and advice.