After days of teasing, on Saturday afternoon, Jacky sustained several blows from a group of 13-year-old boys. The 54-year-old was taken to hospital and must now stay home off work for a week to recover.
‘We know the youngsters in question,’ he says. ‘They spit on our window every week. The rainbow flags we hang on the front of the building during opening hours have been pulled down a few times. And when our front door is open in the summer, they constantly pass by and shout insults like perverts or filthy gays.’
Game of cat-and-mouse
Jacky mainly works behind the scenes at the non-profit Rainbow House: he does the shopping and the accounts. But on Saturday, he wanted to help his wife Edie at the centre and experience for himself what exactly was going on there. ‘We had been open for less than an hour when those youngsters again appeared outside,’ says Jacky. ‘They then disappeared for a while and returned. I went outside and told them to leave us alone. The teenagers walked away, but returned again less than 10 minutes later. This time they taunted us from across the street.’
Altercation turns nasty
Jacky decided to go outside again. The teenagers ran away again, but one of them remained standing. ‘I stepped up to the boy and grabbed him so he couldn’t run away,’ he said. Just then, his other friends returned, without Jacky noticing. They threw him to the ground and kicked him for several minutes. ‘Soon after, the police arrived. They were able to arrest three teenagers.’
Jacky was taken to hospital.
Afraid of the future
As a result of this brawl the couple is scared for the future. ‘I have a steady job outside the Rainbow House on Sea and I only work behind the scenes,’ Jacky explains. ‘But Edie is here five days a week. That means she might become the next victim.’
‘Our Rainbow House should be a safe place,’ Edie adds. ‘But because these youths have been provoking us at our door for some time, visitors sometimes stay away. Just when one of our objectives is to be a safe space for our community.’
This also compromises the operation of the non-profit organisation. ‘We get some money from the City of Ostend, but that’s it,’ says Jacky. ‘All our income: Edie’s salary, rent, expenses has to come from the our meeting centre. For 3 years now, we’ve managed to make do thanks to the bar, but without visitors we can’t sort it.’
