Victims of stalking are too often left in the dark – not anymore
No one should ever have to endure the relentless fear of stalking.
That feeling of dread every time you walk out the door, or switch on your phone, and wonder if they’re targeting you again.
That is not something to be shrugged off; it is a violation that robs victims of their freedom and traps them in a constant cycle of anxiety whenever they leave home or go on social media.
We all know that sense of unease you get at the end of a night out if you think someone’s following you.
If you’ve never experienced stalking, that’s what it’s like all the time. Every day on the way to work. Every evening on the way home. Knowing that your stalker is there.
What is stalking?
Stalking is a crime that occurs when someone harasses or targets another person they have an obsession with more than once. Their repeated behaviour and actions can leave the victim feeling scared or distressed. Stalking can happen both on and offline.
Examples of stalking include following someone, spying on them, stealing someone’s identity, adding tracking software to someone’s devices, and going uninvited into someone’s home.
Stalking and harassment are similar offences and the police can help you regardless of if you are unsure of whether what you have been experiencing is stalking.
For victims of online stalking, it’s just as bad. The constant stream of abusive or threatening messages. Where they last saw you. What they want to do to you. How they plan to hurt you.
Imagine receiving those messages from some anonymous account, and then going out into the world, knowing that every single person you pass by could be them. And that one of them probably is.
That’s exactly what happened to Nicola Thorp, the former Coronation Street actress. But when the police eventually arrested her stalker, they told Nicola they weren’t allowed to reveal his identity.
She had to continue living with that fear until she finally saw him in court. That is not right, and it was not an isolated case.
Nicola has campaigned for people in her situation to have the Right to Know the identity of their stalkers. We promised her in our manifesto that we’d deliver and now we’re doing so.
This Is Not Right
On November 25, 2024 Metro launched This Is Not Right, a year-long campaign to address the relentless epidemic of violence against women.
Throughout the year we will be bringing you stories that shine a light on the sheer scale of the epidemic.
With the help of our partners at Women's Aid, This Is Not Right aims to engage and empower our readers on the issue of violence against women.
You can find more articles here, and if you want to share your story with us, you can send us an email at vaw@metro.co.uk.
Read more:
- Introducing This Is Not Right: Metro's year-long violence against women campaign
- Yvette Cooper's message to abusers and rapists: The streets don't belong to you
- Remembering the women killed by men in 2024
- Stories about violence against women don't make an impact - this is why
- Men - we need your help to end violence against women
- What to do if your loved one is at risk from domestic abuse
Our new Right to Know guidance will empower the police to reveal the identity of an online stalker to their victims as early as possible. Allowing victims to regain a sense of control.
And our measures to tackle stalking don’t stop there.
We’re reviewing every existing piece of stalking legislation to ensure it enables police officers to take action more quickly.
We’re publishing guidance backed in law to ensure the police work with health care professionals, probation officers and other local services to tackle stalkers and protect victims.
We’re giving courts the power to impose protection orders on perpetrators after they’ve been convicted, even if there was no order in place before, to help stop offenders from contacting their victims from prison.
And if there isn’t enough evidence to convict a stalking suspect, the courts will still have the power to impose a protection order where they’re concerned a risk to the victim exists.
What to do if you are being stalked
According to the Metropolitan Police, if you are being stalked you should:
- Report it to your local law enforcement
- Keep all contact with your stalker to a minimum
- You don’t need to keep a record of evidence but it can be helpful to have a record of:
- Each incident and what happened
- Whether there were any witnesses
- What the person harassing you looked like
- Recordings of any phone calls
- Secure your technology, with Refuge’s guide on how to do this here
- Seek support from trusted friends, family and colleagues, or call the National Stalking Helpline on 0808 802 0300
These measures are just the first step, and there will be more to come.
But it’s vital we start fighting back now against the fear that grips so many lives. To tell the perpetrators that we’re coming for them, and make the victims of stalking feel protected, heard and seen.
This Government is determined to make life safer for women and girls, and that has to start with helping those who feel unsafe all the time. As Metro has said, Enough.
Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk.
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