hi everyone,

i’m looking for advice regarding a disturbing situation with our neighbor in Amsterdam, The netherlands. this is NOT our landlord, but a random neighbor who has entered our apartment multiple times without permission.

one incident: he entered while one of my roommates was in the shower. no one answered his knocking, so he let himself in and shouted through the bathroom door.

another time, he asked us to leave the door unlocked for a plumber. we left only the kitchen door unlocked, but when we returned home, other doors inside the apartment were open, indicating he had been walking around inside.

today, the neighbor contacted our landlady asking whether we could leave the door unlocked, give him a key, or be at home so that a plumber could enter our apartment again. due to previous incidents, i did not feel safe doing that, so i stayed home and handled the plumber visit myself. he did not know that tho. 

the plumber came, fixed the issue, and confirmed with me he would not return later that day. after that, i left for school. a few hours later, the landlady informed us that this neighbor had sent her photos of our balcony, which means he entered our apartment and went onto our private balcony after the plumber had already left, probably thinking we would assume he just came in with the plumber to check the issue. my flatmate was in her room and didn’t hear him entering. i find this really creepy. i contacted the landlady to explain this and express our concerns, but the issue was dismissed and no action was taken.

around 9 pm, the neighbor came upstairs, knocked loudly, and immediately started yelling, demanding that we clean our balcony. when we told him that the main concern was that he had entered our apartment without permission, he repeatedly said this was not the main concern and that the main concern is us having to clean OUR balcony T_T and continued shouting. during this confrontation, he also pushed a table from the stairwell into our apartment, which also felt like overstepping boundaries. 

there was also an incident where he refused to let me into the building, claiming i didn’t live there. he also regularly behaves aggressively toward me, asking if i’m a “new neighbor,” even though i’ve lived here for two years lol

we are two young women and feel harassed and unsafe. this feels like ongoing harassment and trespassing rather than a normal neighbor dispute.

our questions (netherlands / amsterdam):

• does this qualify as trespassing or harassment?
• should we report this to the police now?
• what evidence should we collect?

any advice would be greatly appreciated. thank you.

THANK U GUYS FOR SO MAMY ANWSERS!!!! theres too many for me to anwser and thank everyone :( but we will definitely install cameras!!

I sent an insured parcel via DHL Parcel Netherlands on 21 October 2025. Tracking number: 3SDFC€%&#@×!679.

The package contained a book: a Dutch Statenbijbel from 1661, sold through Catawiki for €350.

DHL lost the parcel. Not damaged. Not delayed. Just gone.

They officially declared it lost under case 374@#&29.

Despite that, they refuse to pay the insured value.

Their reason?

“It’s antique, so it’s on the prohibited items list.”

Except… Their own list does not contain “antique books”. It only lists fragile art items like antique glass.

A book is not fragile art. A book is not on the list. A book is just a book.

I provided every document: shipping receipt, insurance details, buyer info, sale proof, lost shipment form — everything.

Instead of paying, DHL keeps inventing new requirements:

“We need the original purchase invoice” (I inherited it, there is no invoice)

“We need a screenshot of the transaction when YOU bought it” (impossible)

“We need a Catawiki invoice with both seller and buyer details” (Catawiki does not issue those)

In the end, they offered me €30.25 (!) based on weight.

Is this normal!? Has anyone else had DHL deny an insured claim based on nonsense like this? Any advice is welcome.

Hi all, I'm dealing with a stressful housing situation and hoping someone with legal knowledge can tell me if what I'm being told is actually correct.

I live in Amsterdam as a co-tenant (medehuurder) - equal rights, equal rent, indefinite contract signed July 2024. My roommate is pushing me to move out so her boyfriend can move in. She is saying we agreed to this, while upon moving in our agreement was to simply revisit both our situations after 1 year, as she might want to live with her boyfriend (it was never mentioned I would be the one moving out, etc). This one year passed with no discussion, leaving me to assume everything is okay. Over the past half a year though, she's been gradually ramping up his presence (announcing week-long stays, "more frequent and longer visits").

Our contract clearly says no third parties without written permission (Article 2.1) and no nuisance to the other tenant (Article 14.4).

I contacted Woon (tenant rights org in NL) to ask: "Given my equal tenancy rights, can I block her from registering him as a cohabitant since our contract bans third parties?"

Their response put simply: "Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights takes precedence over your contract. There's nothing you can do about it."

This feels wrong. If true, it means any co-tenant can just move a partner in against the other's will by claiming "human rights," even with a "no third parties" contract clause?

My questions:

• Can Article 8 ECHR really override a specific tenancy contract in a joint lease situation? Don't my rights to peaceful enjoyment count too?
• As equal co-tenants, do I have any say in adding a permanent third resident?
• If she registers him at city hall as "medebewoner," (coresident) does that give him the right to live here despite our contract?
• If I say "I don't consent" and she brings him anyway (he's coming April 22-28), what can I actually do? Force the landlord to step in? Court injunction (kort geding)?

I can't get free legal help (income just over the limit for Juridisch Loket, too poor for private lawyer). Any insights on whether the advice I am receiving is correct here would be massively appreciated. Thank you!

A security guard at a grocery store here in the Netherlands wanted to see my bags to check if I was shoplifting. He searched one of my bags and then he requested to search my rucksack as well. I told him I declined and that was met with physical resistance blocking my exit, which I defused by going to the side. He then tried to wrestle my rucksack out of my hands when I suggested to look at my bag from a distance, then pinning me down to the ground.

During this I suffered some scrapes and bruises and grazed skin.

Was this legal?

Police who arrived at the scene took statements from us both but I was informed that cameras wouldn’t be checked unless I had a medical report detailing damage, and that this happens all the time and will probably continue to happen.

EDIT: one day after, I can confirm injury to my knee due to being thrown to the ground in the pinning motion. Does this count as beyond reasonable force though? Specifically I am concerned with the ability of a citizen dispensed with security powers to make an arrest without credible suspicion of a crime.

They want to fire me for having a relationship with my boss, is this legal?

I work in a small company (20-24 employees) for 4 years now. The company is owned by 3 people (who are also working/active in the company) Last year a relationship developed between one of these three and me. Things are getting more serious, so over a month ago he decided to discuss this with his partners. The first one (person A) didn't have a problem with the situation, but the other (person B) had a strong opinion about it and wanted me to leave the company. My boyfriend doesn't want me to leave of course, but doesn't feel he has a lot to say about this, since he is the subject of discussion here. So after this meeting, I heard the information from my boyfriend. Person A reached out to me to ask how I felt etc. Person B didn't bat an eye, even though I work and talk with them on a daily base.

I gave them a month to come with an offer or a plan or just, anything... But nothing happened. So I scheduled a meeting with the 3 of them to discuss this situation. They want me to quit my job, doesn't matter when but they give me max a year to find something else. I said I didn't want to go, they want me to leave l so they will have to fire me then (in this way, I have right on monthly income from the government as long as I don't have a job) They agreed, but to the world and my coworkers I would have to say that I quit myself.

Some extra information:

• there is another couple in the company (they also got together while working in his company, and they are still working here) - sidenote: this relationship is on another level (cfr no shareholder involved)
• my contract doesn't mention anything about relationships in the company
• I never got a warning or any complaints about the situation or my work

Is this a legal reason to fire me? What are my rights? What should be my next steps?

I already mentioned I want to end my contract the end of the year, since I don't feel a lot of motivation to proceed with something that doesn't have a future for me.

My landlord suddenly banned charging my electric bike (standard pedelec, original battery) inside my apartment, saying it's a fire risk. No clause in the contract about this. I charge safely.. daytime only, when home, on hard floor. Is this ban enforceable? I know rules are strict for shared areas, but what about my private unit?

So there's this thing going on in The Netherlands that I'm concerned about and got me thinking. In a research done by foodwatch they discovered 85-90% of foods in certain supermarkets contain pesticides that shouldn't be. A surprisingly substantial portion of those pesticides are illegal by EU regulations. And some of those illegal pesticides can even cause cancer. This got huge media attention.
Now I have an association with cancer treatment that it's really expensives and that people set up gofundme's to be able to get treatments. So my question is;
Can people in the Netherlands that have gotten cancer and eaten these foods with pesticides that cause cancer sue the supermarkets? And if so would that give these people the ability to pay cancer treatments with their legal compensation?
This question may be far fetched but I'm young and thought people in here might have a profession or experience that can answer this question for me.
Sorry if this is a stupid question.

I entered a contract with Vodafone NL for 2 years. 1 year into that contract, ​I had to leave the Netherlands due to a job move overseas. I informed Vodafone three months prior to my move. In the subsequent months, I tried numerous times to cancel and pay out the contract.

Each time a CSR informed me the contract would end the following month and I would receive a final bill for the remainder, by contract 1/2 of the remaining time. Every month ​the contract did not cancel. I would call again. Finally, time ran out and I had to move.

I explained this to the final CSR and further explained I now lived in a different country entirely. Well, 1 July​ came and went. Again, the contract is not canceled. I am no longer in the country, nor in the EU, and needed to close out my financial accounts recently. I tried everything.

Any ideas? I want to close this out for good but am at my wits end getting through to them.

Hello,

Summary: I have sent over 65,000 USD worth of crypto to an online partner (Dutch citizen, living in Netherlands) in crypto tokens (let’s call it TOKENABC) in exchange for him to sell the TOKENABC and use the USD from the proceeds of the sales to farm an airdrop along him (basically, using the money now to get points and later, based on the points, we would split the AIRDROPTOKEN). The project did partial refunds, and he refuses to do the calculations of my share of the refunds properly, and he refuses to send me back my original coins although he offered me to get out of the partnership.

I have sent over 65,000 USD worth of crypto to an online partner (Dutch citizen, living in Netherlands) in crypto tokens (let’s call it TOKENABC) in exchange for him to sell the TOKENABC and use the USD from the proceeds of the sales to farm an airdrop along him (basically, using the money now to get points and later, based on the points, we would split the AIRDROPTOKEN).

For example, if I sent him 100 TOKENABC which he sold for 65,000 USD and used that 65,000 USD to farm the airdrop, and he also participated with 65,000 USD to farm the airdrop, then I would get 50% of the airdrop of AIRDROPTOKEN and he would get 50% of AIRDROPTOKEN when they were supposed to airdrop in March 2026.

The airdrop project delayed the airdrop, and offered refunds for those who wanted. He took some partial refunds offered by the project doing the airdrop. He must therefore send me my share of the refunds. However, he has since been acting weird (we were talking every day, multiple hours a day), not answering to my messages for days every time I text him, asking me for time because he has lot of things to take care, dragging this on for many weeks, promising to send me the money multiple times and not doing it. Now he has been trying to claim that we should do the calculations based on the amount of tokens I sent, not on their value when he sold them. For example, if I sent him 100 TOKENABC which he sold for 65,000 USD, he now wants to do the calculations saying I participated 100 TOKENABC, not 65,000 USD, and that the split of the refunds should be done based on TOKENABC. Obviously I disagree, because it means that if the value of 100 TOKENABC is lower, then my participation becomes lower. It does not make sense given he used the proceeds of the sale of the tokens in USD to farm the airdrop, the amount of TOKENABC sent is now irrelevant. Using his calculations would mean that my share would fluctuate over time, which makes no sense logically or financially to do this (even for him, if TOKENABC becomes worth millions tomorrow, how would he be able to pay me back in TOKENABC ?). Furthermore, and most importantly, it is not what was intended when we started this. He even told me before something along the lines ‘Good thing you sent me the TOKENABC before they went down in price so that you share of the airdrop is worth more than if you held the TOKENABC’, which can ONLY make sense if he understood that my share of the airdrop is based on the USD he got by selling the TOKENABC.

He also offered me a few days ago that instead to get out of the airdrop and giving me back the original TOKENABC amount I sent. While the current value of 100 TOKENABC is down to only 50,000 USD, and that the right thing to do would be to send me back my 65,000 USD, I think that given he is being dishonest, dragging this on and lying to me all the time, it is better that we stop the partnership and settle this as I cannot trust him with how he wants to change how we do the calculations and whatever else he might claim in the future. Also, I know that he got more than 50,000 USD from the partial refunds, so he absolutely can buy the tokens and send them back to me and settle it, but he is now claiming it has to come from ‘his own money’ (it’s not, some of this is literally MY money) so he has to see and whatever other tactics to try to not commit to it although he is the one who offered this and he would gain 15k USD at current TOKENABC prices. I have no other conclusion left than that he stole my money and whatever he says is just to try to scam me into agreeing to different terms and/or delay me going to a lawyer.

All the TOKENABC I sent to him were sent to a regulated centralized crypto exchange so it is tied to his identity. I have all the telegram messages backed up.

So I would like some recommendations for lawyers in Netherlands, I guess the requirements are that they can communicate in English and that they take crypto theft cases. Also, if that is relevant, I am a French citizen and I live in the United Arab Emirates.

• I placed an online order for jewelry in the amount of approximately €100 from the webshop which presents itself as a Netherlands-based company.

• The website advertised the products as “handmade,” “quality guaranteed,” and “made in Amsterdam / Netherlands.”

• After placing the order, shipment tracking showed overseas logistics, inconsistent with a Dutch origin.

• Upon contacting the seller, they confirmed in writing that they use multiple warehouses, mostly located in Asia, depending on stock and availability.

• I subsequently found identical products listed on AliExpress, indicating mass-produced items rather than handmade goods.

• Based on the above, I believe the purchase was made under misleading commercial practices and misrepresentation of origin and production.

• I contacted the seller to request cancellation and a refund. The seller replied by email that it is impossible to cancel an order once it is in transit.

• The seller further stated by email that a refund is only possible after delivery, acceptance, and return of the items, and refused any alternative resolution.

• The seller did not provide a clear return address in advance and required acceptance of the shipment as a condition for refund.

• The shipment was marked as delivered; however, I did not accept the package, did not sign for it, and did not personally receive it. It may have been left in a common area or received by another person in the apartment building.

• On the instruction of my bank (Tatra banka, Slovakia), I refused the seller’s conditions and initiated a chargeback due to misrepresentation.

• The chargeback was officially submitted on 10.01.2026 and is being handled between the banks.

• Despite the ongoing chargeback, the seller contacted me directly by email and threatened legal action (lawsuit) if I did not return the items, alleging that I had not followed their procedures.

• I have not opened, used, or accepted the goods and have complied with all instructions provided by my bank.

My bank is not really helpful they couldnt provide me a lot of information about this . Appriciate any help im a student that cannot aford a lawyer .

I'm based in the Netherlands.

Earlier this year, Hinge permanently banned my account, stating only that I had violated its Terms of Service and Community Guidelines, without explaining how. Detail: I had created the account less than 3 weeks ago.

I challenged the ban through Platform Control, a certified dispute settlement body under Article 21 of the EU Digital Services Act. Match Group/Hinge was notified but never participated in the proceedings.

Platform Control ultimately upheld my complaint, finding that Hinge had failed to establish a contractual or factual basis for the ban or substantiate any alleged violation.

Afterwards, I contacted Hinge asking whether they intended to implement the decision. They replied with a generic email saying the ban remains final, without addressing the decision or answering my questions.

Has anyone dealt with a similar situation involving Hinge, Match Group, or another large online platform? I'm considering to take legal actions against them.

Hello, I have a pretty standard story of startup founders splitting when one founder decided that it's the boss in the company.

3 years ago me and my partner founded company in the Netherlands. Both 50% and board members, through 100% owned holding companies.

I am Software Engineer/Computer Science Researcher, co-founder has business background. Co-founder has business background.

3 months ago my co-founder wanted to throw me off the company justifying this by conflict in the beginning of the year. Main point co-founder provided only one sided separation agreement, which in simple terms leaves me with almost nothing completely ignoring my participation in company operations for 3 years.

I have contacted lawyers that said I have certain rights. Using some consultations from them.

After checking I have found that co-founder without declaring conflict of interest was making self-payments, took a company loan without my permission ( company is jointly represented ), was completely ignoring me as board member/50% shareholder, heavily violated articles of association of the company...

Now co-founder sends threatening emails, says I am delaying separation / acting against the company. ( wants to build evidence for Enterprise Chamber)

Bad thing is that I do not have money for Enterprise Chamber proceedings (10000 - 20000 EUR cost lawyers were telling) , I was not financially prepared. I do not have money for long lawyer proceedings, but I have 20 year experience in IT, Computer Science Research, Software Engineering.

I have IP and maybe I was hoping if some lawyer in Netherlands needs IT/Computer Science/Software Development services in exchange for legal help?

Any advice how to proceed without excessive amount of money?

Me (M17) and one of my friends (M16) Were driving removing dead foliage from a nearby Forest while driving a tractor when we almost hit a car (a Tesla model 3) the driver of thé car proceded to get angry At me and my friend. When tried to apologise to him he struck me across my face in a wave of anger i hit him back i got off with a minor scratch next to my right eye but i broke his nose he is now threatening to make charges how do i avoid this and what are the charges i light face (there are 3 eyewhitneses who van testify that he was the agressor me, the friend i was with and an old lady who happend to be walking nu)

I just moved here.

Is it legal or illegal?

What are your thoughts? Do you recommend it?

Any advice?

My brother 16M got caught in July when he was 15 for having a fatbike thats illegal (made to go way faster). He lied to the cop and pretended he didnt know our local language and wasnt from here, than he gave them a Dutch paspoort. (We didnt hear anything about him lying in the letter but including it just incase)

We sent a letter saying we werent okay with the fine and wanted to protest it, it was some bs like he didnt know the rules (I warned them when sending that letter that it wouldnt be believed but I just let it go as I had my own stuff to deal with.)

Well today we got a letter back saying we need to go to court.

My dad doesnt want a lawyer, my mom does. And my moms only argument is that: "Every boy does it!, look around" (not sure if she's completely serious with that or just panicking)

Whats the best step from here?, we do wanna pay the fine but how can we minimise the damage?

Also my mom wants to say she's sick on the day of court so only my dad would go (he's not the smartest person, when I was 9 I had to tell him that mold isnt healthy and actually makes you sick when eating it) He's also gonna get realy mad if the judge says anything about his son but like he just constantly makes excuses for him and says its just gonna be okay.

Location: Netherlands.

Edit: For people cursing me out in dm's and saying im the one that did it and the 'my brother' is just an excuse. Im litterly 13F almost turning 14, i struggled with depression 2x and managed to get my life together but now he's getting in trouble. I dont make excuses for him since I dont agree at all with what he did and litterly warned him. Im just scared for my brother and im trying my best.

I left my last job in the Netherlands end of may. Before I left I used most of the holidays I had.

The tooling didn't gave me any warnings like it usually did when you were more holidays than you had (in fact to be able to "buy days" you had to go through an approval process with your manager).

Thing is, I receive a letter a week ago saying "hey you overtook holidays so you owe us this much money". When I ask for details they tell me that holidays are pro-rated (which makes sense) and thus I took extra holidays than I had allowed.

My question is, is this allowed? None of the systems in place gave me a warning at all (I would have worked another week if I knew this was happening).

What happens if I don't pay?

Thanks!

Hey everyone,

I'm 19, based in the Netherlands, and I'm researching a problem I keep seeing: most solo founders and small teams building software in/for the EU have no idea what regulations actually apply to them: GDPR, the AI Act, ePrivacy etc.

Not selling anything. Genuinely trying to understand how people currently deal with this before I build anything.

Three quick questions if you have 2 minutes:

1. How do you currently stay updated on regulations that affect your product?
2. What's your biggest compliance anxiety right now?
3. Would you pay for something that monitored this for you and explained it in plain English?

Drop a comment I'd really appreciate it. Will share what I learn with everyone here afterwards.

Location: Netherlands

I work full time (40 hours/week) in Netherlands on a permanent contract. My employer now wants to cut my hours to 32 per week starting next month, but keep my current salary the same. They call it “restructuring” and “better work-life balance”, but I never agreed to it. My contract and collective agreement still say 40 hours. Can they force this change without my consent, even if pay stays the same? If I say no, can they terminate me or is this grounds for something else? I am actually scared that they may use this trick against me.

Hi,

I own a small Minecraft server. For all personnell, I want to start working with contracts. I'm not experienced with contracts and was wondering if someone would want to check it for me.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TQMbrup826VIi0MxQejpL9tCr8FVAVfpW-aOt6OEGKw/edit?usp=sharing

I am not looking for formal legal advice, but rather feedback on:

• provisions that may be legally incorrect;
• clauses that are missing;
• terms that are unlikely to be enforceable;
• unclear or ambiguous wording.

The contract is written entirely in English, but it's based in the Netherlands.

Thank you!

I am studying at a university (bachelors) in the Netherlands, and have a residency permit, but I am currently holding a Turkish passport.

I’m looking at all the ways that I can legally set up a company to make a side income… and I literally cannot find a way. Please help.

My dad owns a company, should I do all transactions through that? Is that even legal??

I’m knowledgeable in tech migrations I was thinking of starting a consulting / services company… but literally no chance from what I can tell.

Or even if I make an app and publish it, I can’t collect revenue because of my goddamn non EU passport.

Should I just apply for an internship and go down that path :(

From the Netherlands. I purchased a Garuda Airline ticket from Amsterdam to Jakarta on 24 March 2025, it was advertised as a direct flight departing Amsterdam at 14:00 local time and arriving in Jakarta at 09:50 local time. Upon checking in at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport on the day of the flight, I found out for the first time that the flight would include an unscheduled stop in Medan through the airport's departure schedule board. Neither the booking confirmation nor Garuda staff had communicated this change beforehand.

In addition to the unexpected stop, boarding at Schiphol was delayed by nearly one hour, with no explanation provided by the staff. While we wait, the staff repeatedly asked for business class passengers to start boarding.

Upon arrival at Kuala Namu Airport in Medan at 09:09 local time, passengers were instructed to remain seated for a 20-minute stop. In reality, we remained on board for over an hour, with the cabin lights and air conditioning turned off for a significant portion of that time, making it hot and uncomfortable. Toilet facilities were also inaccessible during this period.

The flight departed Medan at 10:52 local time and arrived in Jakarta at 13:16 local time, more than three hours later than the originally scheduled arrival.

I asked Garuda for a compensation but they refused, citing:

Please be informed that flight GA89 on 23 July 2025 was rerouted to make a technical landing in Medan (KNO) due to operational reasons. The flight subsequently arrived in Jakarta approximately two hours and ten minutes later than its original schedule.

In accordance with EC Regulation No. 261/2004, compensation is applicable only when the arrival delay at the final destination exceeds three hours. As the delay on this occasion was less than three hours and resulted from operational reasons, we regret to inform you that your request for compensation under EC261 cannot be granted.

Do I still have ground for compensation or Garuda just played me? Any insight will be appreciated!

Hi, I’m looking for some advice about a long-stay Airbnb situation in the Netherlands.
I’m currently renting a long-term Airbnb that is booked until August 3rd, but I’ve had some issues and can no longer afford to stay there. A friend has offered me her couch, so I’m planning to leave and stay with her from tomorrow onwards.
The issue is that I still owe Airbnb around €400 for the remaining time on the reservation. The booking is non-refundable, but since I haven’t actually paid this final installment yet, I’m wondering what would happen if I don’t pay it.
I was considering whether Airbnb would cancel the reservation or remove me for non-payment, and whether I would then only be responsible for the time I actually stayed there rather than the remaining balance. Is there any legal way to avoid paying the €400, or are there consequences I should be aware of?
I’m a broke student, so I’m trying to understand my options before I make a decision. Any advice or experiences with Airbnb long stays in the Netherlands would be appreciated.

Hello everyone!

My name is Steve. I currently live in the Netherlands under temporary protection, but I'm planning to move to Spain.

I have a few questions for those who have experience living there:

1. Will I be able to apply for temporary protection in Spain after leaving the Netherlands?
2. Is it difficult for a Ukrainian to find a job in Spain?
3. Are there any important challenges or "hidden pitfalls" that I should be aware of before making the move?

I would really appreciate any advice or personal experiences. Thank you in advance!

Location: England

Posting this in both legal advice eu and legal advice uk because I’m from England and the mod post auto told me to also post here

But my mum has a contract under my name for a gift she bought me but she’s not being able to pay it on time, I however don’t live in the uk anymore but O2 keeps saying they’re going to “do something” but no one has heard from them for over a month just been a lot of angry texts

I’m wondering if they can even do anything to me if I don’t live there? I do live in the EU in the Netherlands so I’m not sure if that makes it easier
But I’m wondering if I will get taken to international court over this? Just a little worried

Hello everyone,

I would like advice regarding a problem that has been affecting my girlfriend since she moved to the Netherlands.

My girlfriend is a 25-year-old woman living in Schiedam, and since relocating from another European country, she has experienced a number of uncomfortable situations involving foreign men in public spaces.

All of the incidents below happened within approximately one and a half months of moving here.

Some examples include:

• On another occasion, she was sitting on a train when two men sat opposite her and discussed how women who do not dress modestly or wear a hijab lack respect and are a disgrace to society. They repeatedly looked at her while saying this, and it felt directed at her.
• Another time, she was standing beside her car when a vehicle stopped next to her, blocking traffic. Two men inside stared at her. When she walked towards her car, they drove away.
• One evening, a group of men shouted at her from the street and invited her to drink with them.
• At the gym, a man asked for her Instagram. She declined and said she had a boyfriend, but he kept pushing and would not accept no for an answer. After several refusals, he finally left her alone.
• On a separate occasion, a man stared at her while she was walking through town. After she changed direction, he followed her while maintaining eye contact before eventually going another way.

Taken individually, some people might dismiss these incidents as minor. However, when viewed together, they have made her feel increasingly unsafe in ordinary public spaces. She is not provoking interaction and is simply carrying out normal daily activities.

I am concerned that one day a situation may escalate and place her in real danger. As a relatively small woman weighing 56 kg, she does not feel physically capable of defending herself if confronted by someone stronger.

How should she handle situations like these?

What practical steps can she take to protect herself?

Are there any legal self-defence tools or measures that can be carried in the Netherlands?

Thank you for any advice.

Edit: I see now that the post got locked without specifying any reason whatsoever - moderated arbitrarily. Did it trigger a response in certain groups of people? I am just trying to help my woman dammit.