Brave Amsterdam cyclist halts harassment, ignites Dutch safety debate

The intervention by a courageous cyclist in Amsterdam, recorded on camera, has gone viral leading to another wave of demands to take action on street harassment in the Netherlands.

In the video, a man is seen attacking a woman in the street whilst she is walking alone. 

The woman was about to tape the face of the harasser when a cyclist who happened by realized what was going on. 

To deter the aggressor, he posed as the companion of the woman and rescued her heroically.

This one simple act of solidarity has sparked a national discussion, resonating with a nation where the statistics have shown the prevalence of this problem.

Four out of six women in the Netherlands have been harassed in the street according to a EU survey.

The woman is fortunate to be safe, but the event has heightened expectations for improved safety measures.

A new Dutch law has explicitly made sexual harassment in public a punishable offense. Effective from July 2024, the law encourages victims to document incidents and report them to police, who can issue legal warnings to perpetrators through a “stopgesprek” (stop conversation).

The video illustrates how community intervention can save a life and how highlighting such events can help push the issue of public safety to the forefront of public discourse.