Unrest in Leiden’s student community after rape and assault

Students in Leiden are getting vigilant and worried about walking around the city alone in the night after two assaults and a rape occurred in just a month. According to NOS, figures released by the police show that there is an increase in the number of sex offenses committed in the area. 

The most recent of the offenses happened early Wednesday morning. A 24-year-old woman was grabbed at around 3 am in the center. The perpetrator fled the scene of the crime and is still not found. The other assault happened on November 11 and the rape occurred on November 6. According to Mayor Lenferink, these incidents are not caused by the same attacker.

With all of these incidents happening students in Leiden no longer feel safe enough to go out alone in the night. The mayor has said that there is extra surveillance installed in the city centre. There are more investigators being put on these cases so as to resolve them quickly.

Student associations have also called on the students to take care of each other and not go home alone in the night. The mayor has also told people to come forward if they have any more information or if they are in danger. However, student associations want more concrete policies and changes to come through.

Do you live in Leiden? What extra precautions have you taken? Let us know in the comments below.

Feature Image: Samantha Dixon/Supplied

Kavana Desai
Kavana Desaihttps://medium.com/@kavanadesai
Coping with the aftermath of her 3-year stint in the Netherlands, Kavana is a writer, content creator and editor for DutchReview. Hailing from India, she frequently blogs about the Netherlands, being Indian in the Netherlands, and everything in between. She envisions herself to one day be the youngest person to win that Nobel Prize for Literature (she is also not very humble but welcomes only constructive criticism). In the meantime, she fills her days with writing for DutchReview, writing her master's thesis on art theft, and writing fiction that will hopefully see the light of day soon.

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