Stalking victims are set to be given improved protection from their abusers under newly revealed government proposals.
Additional rights for those who have been stalked include knowing the identity of online stalkers as soon as possible, the Home Office said.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper pledged the government will use “every tool available” to take power away from abusers.
About one in five women aged 16 and over in England and Wales have been a victim of stalking at least once, official figures show.
The proposed “right to know” statutory guidance aims at making sure police can reassure those being stalked that they will be told the identity of an online abuser at the earliest opportunity.
The government said it had worked with broadcaster and activist Nicola Thorp, whose stalker is serving a 30-month jail sentence, in developing the new protections.
Ms Thorp had been unable to find out the identity of her stalker until he appeared in court.
Stalking Protection Orders – which can ban alleged stalkers from contacting or being within a certain distance of their victims – will also be made more widely available, the government said.
The changed approach will see courts able to impose these orders after a conviction even when one was not in place before a criminal trial, in a change to the current system – where one needs to have been issued beforehand.
Offenders will also be prevented from contacting their victims from behind bars, the Home Office said.
If an accused person is acquitted, courts will still be able to apply protection orders on them if there is sufficient evidence indicating they still pose a risk to someone.
Cooper said victims “have been subject to debilitating and vicious abuse at the hands of stalkers” who “use any means necessary” to monitor and control their lives.
“Today’s measures are an important part of our cross-government mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade,” she added.
Other promised changes include:
- A review of stalking legislation to see if the law could be changed to further support police to spot stalking and arrest offenders
- Defining stalking in statutory guidance and setting out a legal framework to help support services work together and make sure people are not failed by vital information being missed
- New data on stalking offences will be published by the Home Office
- The department will also set out national standards on stalking perpetrator programmes to ensure consistency across England and Wales
The changes in policy come after a major review – carried out by three police watchdogs – found in September that victims of stalking are not being protected enough by police forces in England and Wales, leaving some at “serious risk”.
Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, said: “As a victim of stalking myself, I know just how terrifying it can be to be subject to such controlling behaviour.”
She added that the proposals are “just the first step” and pledged the government “will do more to crack down on this sickening crime which no one deserves to experience”.
The independent victims’ commissioner for London, Claire Waxman, welcomed the changes – saying the criminal justice system had “struggled to deal robustly with stalking, leaving “offenders undeterred and victims at risk” for too long.
