NATIONAL STALKING AWARENESS DAY

Plaid Cymru's Elfyn Llwyd MP has used National Stalking Awareness Day (18th April) to highlight the importance of acting on commitments made in light of the new stalking law in order to ensure its effective enforcement. The theme for the day this year is ‘Know the Law, Use the Law’. Mr Llwyd, chaired the Independent Parliamentary Inquiry into Stalking Law Reform which resulted in a new law on stalking being introduced in November 2012, he stressed the need for scrutiny to make sure that the inquiry's recommendation that training be made mandatory for all criminal justice professionals on how to recognise and treat stalking cases is properly implemented. National Stalking Awareness Day is not only a time to remember those whose lives have been ruined or taken away from them because of this terrible crime, but also to raise awareness of practical steps which can be taken to secure justice for the victims.

Plaid Cymru's Elfyn Llwyd MP said:

"This is the first National Stalking Awareness Day since the new stalking law became operational last November, and it presents an excellent opportunity to remind people of what the new legislation means.

"The Independent Parliamentary Inquiry put support for the victims of stalking at the heart of future legislation.  We wanted to give victims a voice in the justice system.

"This entailed mapping out detailed recommendations such as training for criminal justice professionals on how to recognise and treat stalking behaviour - we cannot allow any more victims to be secondarily victimised by shoddy treatment from the justice system.

"We must also introduce treatment programmes for perpetrators, much as is common for sex offenders, in order to tackle the psychological problems which underpin their behaviour.  Stalking, like rape, is characteristic of obsessive behaviour, and will not go away untreated.

“I have written to the Home Secretary requesting an update on the implementation of the new law, including the training of professionals and improving victims’ advocacy, and I look forward to reading her response.

"If we want to see this improvement in victims' advocacy and more perpetrators being held to account, police forces across England and Wales must introduce training - this can mean murder prevention; it is not an optional extra."

STALKING LAW WILL SAVE LIVES

The successful efforts of an independent inquiry, chaired by Plaid Cymru's Elfyn Llwyd MP, were rewarded on Sunday when laws making stalking a criminal offence were brought in. The UK government has introduced two offences of stalking and stalking involving a fear of violence. A parliamentary inquiry which found the previous laws on harassment and stalking were "not fit for purpose". The inquiry found that about 120,000 victims, mostly women, were stalked every year.

The inquiry, which was launched almost twelve months ago, was unprecedented in its nature due to the involvement of members of all parties, Members of the House of Commons and House of Lords, external experts, and stalking victims and their relatives. This is the first time in the history of Parliament that an independent inquiry has succeeded in implementing new legislation and Mr Llwyd hopes it will serve as a blueprint for future use in campaigns where the focus is people, not party policy.

Plaid Cymru's Elfyn Llwyd MP, who spoke ahead of a press conference marking the implementation of the laws said:

“We are very pleased that these laws will be implemented on Sunday creating two offences of stalking.

“One of these is punishable by up to six months imprisonment, the other by up to five years.

“These are of course welcome but, one of the things which gave rise to our inquiry which led to this change in the law is the fact that the Protection From Harassment Act 1997 did not concentrate on conduct amounting to stalking.

“Furthermore, we do need to ensure that there is a culture change among police officers, prosecutors, probation officers, social services, and the judiciary. These are serious offences and no longer can we tolerate palming people off by saying they are mere ‘domestics’.

“In addition to this, there will be a need to ensure that forensic psychologists are available to treat these individuals because in the vast majority of cases it is possible to get them to desist from this behaviour.

“This is vital because otherwise we are merely looking at a revolving door syndrome of going to prison, coming out, and going back in again.

“I am privileged to have led a team of dedicated parliamentarians whose hard work and commitment to this subject led to this remarkable result.

“At the end of the day the introduction of these offences will improve the lives of thousands of people each year and they will save the lives of many too.”