National Stalking Awareness Day and the formation of a UK National Stalking Alliance : Launch Speech by Sandra Osborne MP
Todays launch – National Stalking Awareness Day and the formation of a UK National Stalking Alliance is an extremely welcome development and I am pleased to be part of it.
Scotland England and Wales today declares a ZERO TOLERANCE approach to ‘ Stalking – not in our country’
I see this as a development of the resistance that has been built up over the years to all forms of violence against women.
We have had international womens day for many years, the white ribbon campaign and many others , all of which have played a part on focussing attention nationally and internationally on the scandalous abuse of women throughout the world.
For many years before I became an MP I worked with Women’s Aid and was formerly chairwoman of Scottish Women’s Aid . I am now chairperson of my local group in East Ayrshire . It is commonplace for women who have experienced domestic violence to be stalked by ex partners when they leave. During my time working with women’s aid several women I knew were murdered by ex partners and we know that this continues to happen on an all too regular basis. Women are often forced to move away from their home area and adopt a new identity as the only way to escape the threat from an ex partner determined to re assert power and control over what he sees as his property by any means available. It is amazing how often even the drastic step of leaving fails as the haunting phrase ‘ I will find you where ever you go’ becomes a reality.
So women need comprehensive protection and a criminal and judicial system which takes their fears seriously.
The nature and extent of domestic violence has been high on the agenda in recent years and is now much better understood than in the past thanks to campaigns such as Zero Tolerance and of course the work of women organisations such as women’s aid. Not that I am advocating complacency as too many women continue to be turned away due to lack of refuge space, funding or access to protection and justice.
But what has not been so well documented until recently has been stalking by strangers or people who may have had a more tenuous relationship not in a domestic situation.
That is why I very much welcome today and all the work that is ongoing on stalking and why I was pleased to take part in the all party independent inquiry in to Stalking Law Reform which has received a positive response from the Government.
As we meet here today a similar event is taking place in the Scottish Parliament which is very appropriate because I am proud to say that Scotland has really led the way on this issue and even prouder to say that the current Scottish campaign began in my constituency although for the worst possible reason.
Around three years ago I met a woman called Ann Moulds who suffered a long and tortuous catalogue of stalking from a stranger she could not identify and received zero support from the police when she asked for help.
Her stalker was eventually brought to court and she took the brave decision to speak out about her experience and start a campaign which is now the Scottish National Stalking Group.
Because it was only three years ago that stalking had no legal status and as I have said was a relatively unknown, silent and hidden crime. The enactment of the new legislation the ‘ Offence of Stalking’ in December 2010 marked stalking out as a singular criminal offence This achievement was in no small part down to Ann Moulds and I pay tribute to her achievement.
The first anniversary of the new legislation saw over 400 reported new cases. A stark contrast to the past when only a handful of cases over the previous ten years were recorded . These numbers are anticipated to rise steadily as more victims feel more confident in reporting.
It also highlights I believe how the Scottish Parliament has responded positively to a real and present danger within our society because Ann could not have achieved that goal without the support of politicians of all parties.
There are now many different facets to the campaign – a website which has 1500 visitors a month, raising awareness including amongst the student population, multi agency partnerships, training for public agencies and the legal profession, media profile . Many of these activities and more are now ongoing in England including a helpline . But what we need is for Westminster to follow Scotlands example and on its own terms bring in a specific law against stalking. I am so pleased that the Home Secretary has made an amendment to the Protection of Freedoms Bill to achieve this in statute by November.
Sandra Osborne
Todays launch – National Stalking Awareness Day and the formation of a UK National Stalking Alliance is an extremely welcome development and I am pleased to be part of it.
Scotland England and Wales today declares a ZERO TOLERANCE approach to ‘ Stalking – not in our country’
I see this as a development of the resistance that has been built up over the years to all forms of violence against women.
We have had international womens day for many years, the white ribbon campaign and many others , all of which have played a part on focussing attention nationally and internationally on the scandalous abuse of women throughout the world.
For many years before I became an MP I worked with Women’s Aid and was formerly chairwoman of Scottish Women’s Aid . I am now chairperson of my local group in East Ayrshire . It is commonplace for women who have experienced domestic violence to be stalked by ex partners when they leave. During my time working with women’s aid several women I knew were murdered by ex partners and we know that this continues to happen on an all too regular basis. Women are often forced to move away from their home area and adopt a new identity as the only way to escape the threat from an ex partner determined to re assert power and control over what he sees as his property by any means available. It is amazing how often even the drastic step of leaving fails as the haunting phrase ‘ I will find you where ever you go’ becomes a reality.
So women need comprehensive protection and a criminal and judicial system which takes their fears seriously.
The nature and extent of domestic violence has been high on the agenda in recent years and is now much better understood than in the past thanks to campaigns such as Zero Tolerance and of course the work of women organisations such as women’s aid. Not that I am advocating complacency as too many women continue to be turned away due to lack of refuge space, funding or access to protection and justice.
But what has not been so well documented until recently has been stalking by strangers or people who may have had a more tenuous relationship not in a domestic situation.
That is why I very much welcome today and all the work that is ongoing on stalking and why I was pleased to take part in the all party independent inquiry in to Stalking Law Reform which has received a positive response from the Government.
As we meet here today a similar event is taking place in the Scottish Parliament which is very appropriate because I am proud to say that Scotland has really led the way on this issue and even prouder to say that the current Scottish campaign began in my constituency although for the worst possible reason.
Around three years ago I met a woman called Ann Moulds who suffered a long and tortuous catalogue of stalking from a stranger she could not identify and received zero support from the police when she asked for help.
Her stalker was eventually brought to court and she took the brave decision to speak out about her experience and start a campaign which is now the Scottish National Stalking Group.
Because it was only three years ago that stalking had no legal status and as I have said was a relatively unknown, silent and hidden crime. The enactment of the new legislation the ‘ Offence of Stalking’ in December 2010 marked stalking out as a singular criminal offence This achievement was in no small part down to Ann Moulds and I pay tribute to her achievement.
The first anniversary of the new legislation saw over 400 reported new cases. A stark contrast to the past when only a handful of cases over the previous ten years were recorded . These numbers are anticipated to rise steadily as more victims feel more confident in reporting.
It also highlights I believe how the Scottish Parliament has responded positively to a real and present danger within our society because Ann could not have achieved that goal without the support of politicians of all parties.
There are now many different facets to the campaign – a website which has 1500 visitors a month, raising awareness including amongst the student population, multi agency partnerships, training for public agencies and the legal profession, media profile . Many of these activities and more are now ongoing in England including a helpline . But what we need is for Westminster to follow Scotlands example and on its own terms bring in a specific law against stalking. I am so pleased that the Home Secretary has made an amendment to the Protection of Freedoms Bill to achieve this in statute by November.
Sandra Osborne