26.09.11
Specific legislation needed for stalking -Yvette Cooper
The Labour Party would seek to make stalking a specific offence in England and Wales, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper told the party conference in a speech on Saturday.
Current legislation only refers to harassment, yet according to the 2010-11 British Crime Survey, 18.1% of women have been a victim of stalking. Scotland introduced a separate offence for stalking last year, and over 130 people were charged within the first six months.
Cooper told the conference that Labour must start “addressing areas where the criminal justice system is not protecting people”.
She said: “One such area is stalking and we will take action to clarify the law, the powers and the criminality of this intimidating act and prevent it from leading to more serious crimes. There have been too many tragic cases of women and men being stalked, and a lack of clarity in the law has allowed this to go on for too long and led to heinous crimes – and this must end.”
In England and Wales, an all-party group of MPs and peers is currently investigating the issues around stalking. It is looking to revise and strengthen the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, the law currently used to prosecute stalkers in England and Wales, and is due to report in early 2012.
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