The UK Home Office announced Tuesday first-of-its-kind “Right to Know” measures for victims of stalkers. The new guidance allows the police to reveal the identity of online stalkers, along with other measures, to create more protection for victims.
With extension of the “Right to Know” statutory guidance to online stalking crimes, the police can now disclose the identities of stalkers to victims of anonymous online stalking at the earliest possibility. The government asserts that this new guidance will create more protections for victims of online harassment and stalking who, under previous rules, were not allowed to know the identities of their stalkers, even if arrests were made.
The Home Office also announced that courts will now be given powers to impose Stalking Protection Orders at conviction or acquittal depending on circumstances. Under the current rules, the police must apply for a Stalking Protection Order.
The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 protects individuals from being stalked. The Home Office outlined its plans to review and assess this legislation for any potential areas that can be changed in order to “support police to better identify stalking and arrest offenders.” In addition, the government plans to issue national standards on stalking programs and publish an up-to-date database.
The strengthened measures incorporate recommendations suggested in a “super-complaint” to the police made by rights groups and activists. In March 2022, the Suzy Lamplugh Trust brought the super-complaint against the police, alleging “systematic issues” in the police response to stalking. Apart from the police’s lack of understanding of stalking, the group found that a quarter of the cases were dropped by the police erroneously due to their perceived lack of evidence despite suspects being identified in the year ending March 2022. The Suzy Lamplugh Trust’s CEO, Emma Lingley-Clark, welcomed the new measures.
The Home Office secretary, the Right Honorable Yvette Cooper MP, has been working to address violence against women across the UK, announcing new measures to address domestic abuse in September.
