What is the legal definition of stalking and what are the punishments?
New guidance means police forces face fewer barriers when it comes to protecting victims of stalkers.
Victims of stalking will be able to know the identity of their stalker, under tougher new guidance from the Home Office.
The UK safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, who herself has been a victim of stalking, said stricter stalking protection orders would also prevent stalkers from contacting their victims from prison.
“This raft of measures we’re announcing today is just the first steps, really, to trying to improve this situation," Phillips said, explaining that many victims of stalking were not told by police forces who the perpetrator was.
"I have been a victim of stalking, and I wasn’t told that. I didn’t have the right to know. And in most of the cases of my stalkers, they made it clear who they were as part of their desire to control and frighten me.”
She added that the person responsible for stalking her had also sent her messages from prison. "I had somebody who was in prison for harming – well, seeking to harm me – and then was able to write letters to me, contact me from prison,” she said.
The new “right to know” statutory guidance is aimed at ensuring police can reassure those being stalked that they will be told the identity of an online stalker at the earliest opportunity.
The guidance was inspired by the experience of broadcaster, activist and former Coronation Street actress Nicola Thorp, who was stalked online but told by police they could not disclose the offender’s identity, even after he was arrested.
The man is serving a 30-month prison sentence with a lifetime restraining order, handed down after his appearance in court, which was the first time Thorp learned his true identity.
The announcement comes following a September report on stalking by police watchdogs that showed one in seven people aged 16 and over had been a victim of stalking - and outlined that many people were being failed by inconsistent stalking laws.
What is the legal definition of stalking?
According to the police, stalking and harassment is when "someone repeatedly behaves in a way that makes you feel scared, distressed or threatened".
The Sentencing Council says stalking involves "persistently following someone". It says: "It does not necessarily mean following them in person and can include watching, spying or forcing contact with the victim through any means, including through social media."
What are the punishments for stalking?
Harassment and stalking are classed as offences under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.
If the offence is harassment or stalking, the maximum sentence is six months in prison. If it is racially or religiously aggravated, the maximum sentence is two years in custody.
For the more serious offence of harassment (putting people in fear of violence) or stalking (involving fear of violence or serious alarm or distress), the maximum sentence is 10 years in custody, going up to 14 years if racially or religiously aggravated.
What are cyber-flashing and upskirting?
Cyber-flashing is a form of digital harassment or sexual misconduct that involves sending unsolicited explicit images or videos of genitalia or other intimate body parts to another person via text, email or social media platforms.
In February, Nicholas Hawkes, 39, from Basildon, Essex, became the first person in England and Wales to be convicted of cyber-flashing, after admitting two counts of sending a photograph or film of genitals to cause alarm, distress or humiliation. He was later sentenced to 66 weeks in prison.
Cyber-flashing became a criminal offence in England and Wales at the end of January and carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison, but has been a crime in Scotland since 2010.
Upskirting is the act of taking a photo or video underneath a person's clothing without their consent, typically to capture images of their underwear, genitals or buttocks.
Upskirting became a criminal offence in England, Scotland and Wales in 2019, and offenders can be jailed for two years if found guilty. The government is also making public sexual harassment a specific criminal offence, which will see perpetrators face up to two years in prison, and comes into force from October.
