Who are we?
Who are the founders of VeiligStappen.nl?
Michael Mulders
I was born and raised in Zwolle, 36 years old, engaged, and still live there with great pleasure to this day! I am a huge fan of playing online games and have managed to build a whole online community over the years. Besides my passion for gaming, I also love to go out in the city! After studying Biology at the University of Utrecht, I started VeiligStappen.nl full-time with my little brother.
Randy Mulders
Like my brother, I was also born and raised in Zwolle. I now have a girlfriend and two lovely children whom I love very much. Unfortunately, I did not stay in Zwolle after several relocations, but I am stranded in Heerenveen. Zwolle will always remain my 'hometown' for me. I have had multiple jobs in the energy and insurance industry and enjoy collecting new ideas. One idea was the establishment of VeiligStappen.nl. Together with my brother, we made this idea reality.
Our differences make us stronger
We have grown apart from our youth, which has ensured that we have also developed completely different qualities. Because we now know exactly our strengths and weaknesses of each other and where they lie, we can complement each other very well. What one does not know, the other knows! Where one is less strong, the other is good at!
Our story
How was Veilig Stappen created?
Some time ago my brother and I were watching a program on the Discovery Channel about the drugging of drinks and rape. The program made us wonder; what can we do so that you can control your drink in a subtle way? And how big is the problem of abuse in the Netherlands now? We have been looking for ways to test your drink. But of course, we had to investigate first!
We first found out how big the problems surrounding rape were in the Netherlands. It was quite a challenge to find out how big the problem really is in the Netherlands because there are many different figures on this subject. 1 in 8 women was the first to conclude. Until the moment that the Rutgers Knowledge Center came out with the survey 'Sexual health in the Netherlands 2017', with more than 17,000 respondents. Source: Sexual Health Research. In this, the magnitude of the problem became really clear. 53% of women and 19% of men experience Sexual Transgressive Behavior. 22% of women and 6% of men with Sexual Violence. We found this extremely shocking. We could hardly believe that this is so much happening in the Netherlands in 2019.
Now that we had these figures clear, we were sure from that moment on that we really wanted to commit ourselves to this. We had come up with one product, but it didn't stop there. There are of course several situations in which women, men, young people, and children can become victims of Sexually Transgressive Behavior & Sexual Violence. Hence we came up with the idea to form an Arsenal against this problem.
Fortunately, our civil service government recognizes the problem and that it must be addressed. Coincidentally, StartHubs just organized a Challenge for the Ministry of Education, Culture & Science (OCW) to prevent #MeToo experiences in the nightlife. This is exactly what we were concerned with and of course, participated. After pitching in The Hague, we can call ourselves shared winners of this Challenge! We are very grateful for this, because thanks to the support of the OCW, we as brothers were able to complete the Set-Up of Safe Steps, in order to be able to start tackling the problem in our way. Because the problem is so huge, we cannot of course do it alone. Hence, we need you to help bring the numbers down! Thank you in advance for your support!
Our mission
These are the points we are committed to working on and giving 110% for:
Reduce figures for sexually transgressive behavior & violence!
We find the figures alarming! In any case, we want to make an impact on these figures.
Become the central provider of Holland!
One of our ways to protect yourself is by offering our Arsenal. Here we offer several products with which you can legally protect yourself in real emergency situations. Years of trauma can be prevented by using legal self-defense products.
Expanding our Arsenal!
We want to have as much choice as possible so that you can make a well-informed choice that you feel comfortable with. Everyone has a different way of how he or she acts in an emergency situation.
It is good to see that more developments are taking place in this area. For example, the DNA Spray has come onto the market and we have of course also added it.
Spreading awareness!
Involve men in the solution!
Despite we strongly believe it is important to be able to protect yourself, it is still very good to actually look at the source. Often it is a man who is guilty of committing transgressive sexual behavior or violence. Hence we involve men, e.g. also in our presentations and educational program to start the conversation and to raise awareness.
