Limburg investigates the safety of women on public transport

The province of Limburg is investigating the safety of women on public transport. This is at the request of the Provincial Council, which has accepted a motion from the PvdA. The study aims to find out how safe women feel on public transport and at stations and what measures could be taken to improve their safety.

The TV program Pointer and the newspaper AD recently surveyed thousands of Dutch women in which places they feel unsafe. Over 7,400 women completed the survey, and 91 percent of the participants said they felt most unsafe on public transport (train, metro, and bus). Pointer reported that 90 percent of respondents also felt unsafe in forests and parks. This prompted Limburg PvdA MP Aleida Berghorst to also call on her province to conduct such a survey.

"So we can ask women: what do you need to make a station feel safer for you? We won't solve the problem with this proposal; that's a pipe dream. But if we can prevent just 1 percent of cases with very simple measures, we shouldn't fail to do so," said Berghorst.

However, not all parties reacted enthusiastically to the investigation. The PVV and the Forum voor Democratie considered a survey specifically among women to be unnecessary, as "everyone should feel safe on public transport." PVV party leader Bart Megens said it was better to tackle the "source of the nuisance," which in his opinion, was "mostly asylum seekers." Megens reaped disapproving reactions from the national chamber, including from Royal Commissioner Emile Roemer. "I don't think this is acceptable, and I distance myself from it," said Roemer.

The motion was adopted by 31 votes to 14.