British want police to do more to stop stalkers
Crime is misunderstood, government report says
LONDON – The Rev. Graham Sawyer has been a victim of stalking, so he can speak from personal experience when he complains that authorities in England and Wales aren’t doing enough to stop the growing problem.
“It’s horrendous because people do not understand the crime of stalking,” Sawyer says. “It’s covered in mystery, and it’s also a bit embarrassing. ... The victim doesn’t realize they are being stalked until it’s advanced.”
Stalking has been a crime in England and Wales since 2012. Many victims complain they are not being taken seriously by authorities.
Victims reported nearly 250,000 cases of stalking or harassment in the 12 months through June, a 36% increase from the same period in 2016, according to the most recent data from the Office for National Statistics.
Sawyer, who preaches at a church in Burnley in northern England, says he was stalked by a churchgoer, starting in early 2014 after he provided the woman pastoral support following the death of her husband. He says he reported hundreds of emails and calls to the police, but they failed to act for more than a year.
His ordeal ended after the woman was given a warning from the Lancashire police in December 2015, and she stopped stalking him.
Others are speaking out for police to take greater steps to stop the crime. Last year, anti-stalking charities attributed a sharp increase in the number of victims coming forward to singer Lily Allen, who spoke about her own seven-year stalking ordeal.
A government report on the problem this past summer says stalking is often misunderstood by police and prosecutors, who charge suspects with other offenses, especially harassment.
“Stalking is a terrible form of abuse that can have a devastating effect on its victims, which is why this government is working to protect victims and stop perpetrators at the earliest opportunity,” Britain’s Home Office said in a statement on Thursday.
It said the maximum sentences for stalking and harassment were raised from five to 10 years this year.
In the USA, California introduced the world’s first anti-stalking law in 1990 after five women, including actress Rebecca Schaeffer, were killed by stalkers. Anti-stalking laws are in place in all U.S. states.
Victoria Charleston of Suzy Lamplugh Trust, a British charity that helps victims, says the group’s national stalking help line aided 4,500 people in 2017. “We hear from them (the callers) that often stalking isn’t taken seriously by the police and their concerns around the impact of emails and social media aren’t taken into account,” she says.