Stalker reports increase 10-fold over past 5 years

More stalkers than ever are being reported to police in Bath and North East Somerset - but charities warn that the vast majority of victims could be suffering in silence.

The latest Home Office figures show there were 114 crimes of stalking committed in our area in 2019/20, equivalent to more than two a week.

The number is almost 10 times higher than it was five years ago, and has almost quadrupled compared to 31 the previous year. It is also the highest number recorded by police since stalking was listed as a separate offence in 2014.

The figures are mirrored across the wider area. Avon and Somerset Police recorded 1,411 crimes of stalking last year, four times as many as the previous year’s figure and more than six times higher than the 232 recorded in 2015/16.

Campaigners say the rise is a sign that more stalkers are being identified and caught - but have warned that the true picture is far worse.

Emma Moseley, of anti-stalking charity the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, believes the spike is down to improved police and Crime Prosecution Service stalking protocol, which was launched in 2018, with the charity’s support.

She said: “We welcome this better identification of stalking as a crime by both victims and by the police. However, according to the Crime in England and Wales Survey, over 1.47 million people were stalked in 2019, so even with the increase in reports that still represents only two per cent of victims, many of whom will have experienced up to 100 incidents before reporting to the police.

“Stalking is a crime of psychological terror that impacts on all aspects of a victim’s life, often in ways that are long-lasting and traumatic.

“Research launched by the National Stalking Consortium indicates that around eight in ten victims of stalking experience symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder in the aftermath of being stalked.

“It is very common for victims to move home, change their careers, lose their relationships and social lives, and have significant financial impacts from being stalked, and to live with being anxious and hypervigilant for years after the stalking has ended.

“It is vital that victims must be safeguarded and taken seriously by the criminal justice system.”

Stalking is defined as persistent and unwanted attention which makes users feel pestered and harassed.

It can include sending unwanted gifts, standing outside the person’s house or waiting at their workplace, bombarding the victim with phone calls, texts, emails or messages on social media, and even physical assaults and vandalism.

Across England and Wales, police recorded 31,092 cases of stalking last year, which was a 58 per cent increase on 2018/19 and more than seven times higher than the 4,284 incidents recorded five years earlier.

But according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, many more crimes are going unreported. The ONS estimates that around 952,000 women and 516,000 men were victimised by stalkers last year. Around 391,000 of them were stalked by a former partner.

Criminal justice statistics show there were 684 proceedings against stalkers in 2019, compared to 505 in 2018.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We welcome the fact that more people are confident to come forward and report these crimes to the police.

“We introduced Stalking Protection Orders in January, which protect victims and address the perpetrator’s behaviour at the earliest opportunity.

“We’ve also doubled the maximum sentences for stalking and harassment to 10 years.”

The National Stalking Helpline number is 0808 802 0300. Or find advice and services in your area at: www. suzylamplugh. org/ Pages/ Category/am-i-being-stalked.