Stalking prevention order
New Home Office measures to tackle the growing crime of stalking risk becoming a “retrograde” step that campaigners warn could prompt an increase in murders.
The stalking protection orders, unveiled today, aim to block perpetrators from approaching their victims and allow courts in England and Wales to move quicker to ban stalkers from contacting or visiting victims.
However, some experts voiced concern that the powers could be used as an alternative to prosecutions, placing victims at greater risk.
Rachel Horman, chair of Paladin, a national stalking advocacy service, said: “This would be a retrograde step and could lead to an increase in homicides.”
Horman, also a solicitor specialising in stalking and coercive control cases, added: “The only way to keep a stalking victim safe in my view is to ensure that the perpetrator is in custody. Stalking is about obsession and fixation so nothing less than custody will keep victims safe.”
Prosecution rates for stalking offences are falling despite the number of recorded cases rising significantly. In 2014-15 there were 2,882 recorded offences according to the Home Office, a figure that climbed to 10,214 three years later. Yet only a quarter of the 6,702 cases in which a charge could be brought led to one, compared with 2014-15 when almost half of reported crimes resulted in further action.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jan/19/new-stalking-prevention-orders-victims-at-risk
