Last Saturday night, Catcalls of Nimma organised a ‘Heksennacht’: a protest march through the streets of Nijmegen against street harassment. Student and Vox employee Sophie Verhoeven joined the march. ‘I haven’t felt this safe in ages.’

Last May, an enthusiastic call was posted on Catcalls of Nimma’s Instagram account to help with the organisation of the Nijmegen Heksennacht (the ‘Nijmegen Witch Night’, a Dutch initiative inspired by the international Take Back the Night marches, ed.). An earlier edition of this event already took place last year, and they were thrilled to do it again this year. Since I had been following the account for a while and I have had a few unpleasant experiences with street harassment myself, I felt motivated to help.

Street harassment is – unfortunately – still a problem that many women have to deal with. In Nijmegen as well. When you walk alone in the streets at night as a woman, it won’t be surprising to receive degrading comments, disguised as a compliment. It makes you feel unsafe. That’s why I joined the march.

Activism of the past

The Heksennacht started in the Mariënburgkapel with an exposition of pamphlets from past editions. The idea was to connect the city’s activism of the past with the lessons we can learn for the future.

For instance, feminist Bep Dijkhuizen, who organised the first Nijmegen Heksennacht in 1978, spoke to us with a motivating message. ‘The Heksennacht is still needed. Try to make it a huge social movement, just like the late seventies and early eighties. The movement slowly faded later, but unfortunately, the violence did not.’

Protest march

After the encouraging words, we marched through the city centre of Nijmegen with approximately two hundred women and men. In the style of Catcalls of Nimma, the participants were supplied with sidewalk chalk to write their experiences with street harassment on the streets. Within minutes, the entire Joris Ivensplein and the Molenstraat were full of personal stories and protest quotes, such as ‘street harassment is not a compliment.’ Making those experiences of street harassment visible was clearly effective, as bystanders were eager to engage in conversation with the participants.

‘During the march, a few boys poured beer from their balcony on the participants’

Throughout the march, participants exchanged more experiences, found recognition, validated each other’s experiences, and sang along to several empowering songs. This feeling of empowerment was strengthened by the diversity of the group, which showed that street harassment can affect anyone. I haven’t felt this safe in Nijmegen in ages.

Provocative comments

I am very much aware that the safety that I experienced was mostly attributed to the large group that we marched with. But even during the march, a few boys poured beer from their balcony on the participants, and there were still some male bystanders that made provocative comments.

However, as we were with a big group, it was easier to speak up against it. If I had ended up in the same situation by myself, I probably wouldn’t have dared to say anything. I hope that the Heksennacht has raised awareness and empowered people to speak up together against street harassment. So, that eventually, everyone can feel safe in Nijmegen.