Minute of silence for Lisa at Abcoude festival; Nightlife lit orange for women's safety
Abcoude held a minute of silence for the murdered 17-year-old Lisa at the start of the Utrecht village’s annual festival week. The event grounds fell silent at 10:00 p.m., followed by the ringing of church bells for two minutes and then applause.
“Lisa’s family was there and was deeply moved,” a spokesperson for Names de Familie, a victim organization that acts as spokespersons for crime victims and their families, told NOS afterward. “They feel supported and moved by the tremendous support of the entire village.”
At around 4:15 a.m. last Wednesday, the 17-year-old girl from Abcoude was found murdered along a main road in Duivendrecht. She was cycling home from a night out with friends in Amsterdam when a man attacked and brutally killed her. A 22-year-old man is in custody for killing her, raping another woman, and attempting to rape a third.
Last night in Amsterdam, the facades of bars, nightclubs, the Central Station, and the town hall were lit orange to commemorate Lisa and advocate for women’s safety. Other cities also supported this action, organized by the Amsterdam nightlife, by lighting prominent landmarks, like the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam, in orange.
Orange is the color the UN uses to symbolize a future without violence against women and girls.
The Amsterdam bars and clubs wanted to send a strong message against femicide and sexual violence. They advocate for structural change to make women safe in the city and in the nightlife.
Another initiative against violence against women, prompted by Lisa’s death, involves signs along highways and train stations saying “We claim the night.” The crowdfunding campaign for this action has raised over €503,000 since Friday.
