James Senior has studied the effectiveness of policing interventions to combat stalkers at doctorate level. His thesis – Non-Domestic Stalking: An exploration of the impact of policing interventions – has been published online. This article will take a closer look at stalking, exploring the criteria, the impact on victims, and the penalties mandated by English and Welsh law.
Stalking is essentially a pattern of repeated, unwanted behaviour that causes the victim to feel afraid or upset. It may be perpetrated by men or women, with or without a fear of violence. If a person receives persistent, unwanted contact that causes them distress, even if the perpetrator has never threatened them, this is stalking and is classed as criminal behaviour.
The Suzy Lamplugh Trust characterises stalking as a pattern of fixated, obsessive behaviour that is repeated, intrusive, persistent and engenders alarm or distress in the victim or fear of violence. In addition to malicious and unwanted communication, damaging property and sexual or physical assault, stalking can also consist of behaviours like regularly sending the victim gifts where this behaviour is persistent and clearly unwanted and causes distress, feature or anxiety to the recipient.
Stalking can take a huge emotional toll on victims, leading to feelings of anxiety, depression and even triggering post-traumatic stress disorder. As well as a physical crime, it is also a psychological one.
The word ‘stalking’ is typically associated with strangers lurking in the shadows or obsessed fans pursuing celebrities. While these examples do indeed cover some stalking scenarios, they only account for a minority of stalking cases. Around 45% of people who contact the Suzy Lamplugh Trust’s helpline are stalked by their ex-partners. For a further third of victims, their stalker was another form of prior acquaintance. While the stalker may have been a coworker, friend, partner, husband or wife, the fact that the victim had a prior relationship with them does not mean they are to blame. In England and Wales, stalking is a crime punishable under criminal law. Victims can also seek recourse via the civil courts by applying for a non-molestation order or other form of injunction.
A report by Dr Lorraine Sheridan and Network for Surviving Stalking surveyed 2,292 stalking victims whose ages ranged from 10 to 73 years. Victims were male and female, from a vast range of socio-economic backgrounds. 38% were professionals. The report concluded that virtually anyone can find themselves a victim of stalking and the only way to avoid the risk is to avoid society completely.
The participants in Dr Sheridan’s research experienced incidences of stalking of various durations, ranging a month to 43 years. The average length was found to be between six months and two years. Dr Sheridan revealed a correlation between stalking duration and the degree of emotional investment in the relationship by the stalker. Her findings highlight the need for law enforcers to take ex-intimate stalking seriously, since this tends to be the most dangerous form of stalking.
Amendments to the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 made on 25th November 2012 make stalking a criminal offence in its own right. Examples of behaviours defined as stalking include (but are not limited to) contacting, following, monitoring, publishing material relating to the victim, interfering with property, loitering, watching or spying.
Where an individual is found guilty of stalking in England and Wales, the court must consider relevant sentencing guidelines, except in circumstances where it is not in the interests of justice. The maximum sentence for harassment or stalking is six months’ imprisonment, or two years where the crime is religiously or racially aggravated. However, in situations where the offence has put the victim in fear of violence or caused serious alarm or distress, the maximum sentence is 10 years’ imprisonment, or 14 years’ custody where the crime is religiously or racially aggravated.
