Stalking

Stalking

What is Stalking?
 Originally used to describe to animal hunting behaviour.
- Appropriated to mean those who pester, harass, intimidate, or interfere with the
lives of others.
 Definitions usually emphasise:
- “…persistent attempts to impose on another person unwanted communication
or contacts….” (Mullen, Pathe & Purcell, 2000, p.454)
- “…which induces fear or concern for safety of the individual” (Cupach &
Spitzberg, 1998, p.2)
 General consensus that behaviours must be repeated at least twice (e.g. Meloy &
Gothard, 1995)
 Sum of acts – rather than individual acts – that is harmful
 “Harassment and stalking are crimes of persistence. It is the unrelenting repeat
behaviour by the perpetrator experienced in its totality, which seems inescapable
and inevitable, that has such a detrimental effect on the victim” (HMIC & HMCPSI,
2017)

How do Stalking + Harassment Differ?
 ‘Stalking’ and ‘harassment’ used interchangeably in popular discourse
- Though separate offences in PHA 1997
 Stalking usually considered an extreme form of harassment that causes severe harm
(Sheridan & Davies, 2004)
- Also known as obsessional following, or obsessional pursuit
 Hard to distinguish - College of Policing (2019, p.1) definitions:
 Stalking:
- “pattern
of

, unwanted, fixated and obsessive behaviour which is intrusive. It can include
harassment that amounts to stalking or stalking that causes fear of violence or
serious alarm or distress.”
 Harassment:
- “unreasonable and oppressive behaviour that is repeated and may cause alarm
or distress or fear of violence in the victim”

Is Stalking a New Problem?
 Roman law (550AD): “…it is prohibited to inflict injury or cause hindrance by
following a boy, girl or married woman” (Sheridan & Davies, 2004: 198)
 De Clerambault (1927): ‘psychose passionelle’.
- Mostly relates to females and person above social status.
 DSM-III-R (published 1987) first recognised ‘erotomania’.
- Delusions of unrequited love (cited in Sheridan & Davies, 2004)
 John Fowles (1963): debut novel “The Collector”
 British media labelled stalking “the crime of the 1990s” (Daly, 1996):
- Fatal Attraction (1987); The Bodyguard (1992); Single White Female (1992);
Eminem – Stan (2000)
- Jill Dando supposedly murdered by stalker Barry George in 1999
 In 1990s, campaign groups raised awareness re. victims of intimate partner stalking,
evoking public concern
- Number of prosecutions increased (albeit under different legislation)
 Protection from Harassment Act introduced 1997
- Max custodial sentence = 5 years (or 7 if religiously/racially motivated)
 Strategy to End Violence Against Women and Girls introduced in 2010 – and
extended until 2024 – included reducing stalking as a target
 Stalking introduced as a specific offence in 2012 (amendment to PHA)
- Max custodial sentence = 5 years
 In 2017, max custodial sentences for S & H increased to 10 years (or 14 if
racially/religiously motivated harassment)
 Stalking Protection orders introduced in 2019
- Gracie’s Law debated in parliament two

Prevalence + Trends: Police Records
 Previously counted as ‘violence without injury’
- Separate ‘stalking and harassment’ classification introduced in 2014
 Combined figure for stalking and harassment (ONS, 2022)
- In year ending Sept 2021, 690,929
- 25% increase on previous 12 months
 As reported in HMIC & HMCIP (2017) - in year to December 2016:
- 202,775 police recorded harassment (52% increase)
- 4,613 stalking (23% increase)



Changes to Counting and Principle Rule