We attended the Stalking Conference organised by Victim Support, to celebrate the 1st anniversary of the Mayor’s West Yorkshire Stalking Service.
The event was attended by guests such as Tracy Brabin – the Mayor of West Yorkshire – and various professionals from numerus agencies, including West Yorkshire Police, IDAS, PDAP, West Yorkshire Fire Service etc.
It was a privilege to be in the room with Professor Clive Ruggles, the father of Alice Ruggles and the co-founder and Chair of Trustees of the Alice Ruggles Trust.
As part of the event, we had the opportunity to attend two workshops:
- ‘Stalking Protection Orders the importance of early intervention’ with Sarah Louise, Head of Operations at Suzy Lamplugh Trust, and
- ‘Cyberstalking and internet safety’ with Peter Jenkins, Security Consultant and Surveyance Instructor
Stalking Protection Orders
Stalking Protection Orders (SPO) are relatively new, as came into force in January 2020. SPO is a civil order and must be applied for by the police to the magistrates’ court. There is no cost to the victim. A breach of an SPO is a criminal offence. A SPO lists prohibited behaviours and positive requirements. The list of prohibited behaviours can be extensive and include behaviours such as entering certain locations or making reference to the victim on social media. The perpetrators may be required to, for example, attend intervention programmes, undergo a mental health assessment, undertake a substance rehabilitation programme, surrender their devices to the police or provide the police with access to their social media account and passwords.
There are interim and full Stalking Protection Orders. An interim SPO is a temporary order the court can make, where there is an immediate risk of harm. The threshold to apply for the interim order is lower than that required for a full order.
Cyberstalking
In the cyberstalking and internet safety workshop, Peter Jenkins, who is a Security Consultant and Surveyance Instructor for various animal welfare organisations, showed us how much information stalkers are able to get on their victims online, using things like reverse image search or certain websites. He showed us how much information he was able to gather on random strangers he saw on the train – we couldn’t decide if it was more scary or impressive!
Stalking Classification
The next speaker was Louise, Chief Operation Officer at Paladin National Stalking Advocacy Service, who talked to us about the current legislation and the offences of stalking being created in 2012. We heard about the classification of stalking and five motivational types of stalkers:
- The “Rejected Stalker” who commences stalking after the breakdown of an important relationship that was usually, but not always, sexually intimate in nature. In this group the stalking reflects a desire for reconciliation, revenge, or a fluctuating mixture of both.
- The “Intimacy Seeker” who desires a relationship with someone who has engaged their affection and who, they are convinced, already does, or will, reciprocate that love despite obvious evidence to the contrary.
- The “Incompetent Suitor” also engages in stalking to establish a relationship. However, unlike the “Intimacy Seeker”, they are simply seeking a date or a sexual encounter.
- The “Resentful Stalker” who sets out to frighten and distress the victim to exact revenge for an actual or supposed injury. “Resentful Stalkers” are differentiated from ‘Rejected Stalkers’ in that the cause of their resentment does not lie in rejection from an intimate relationship.
- The “Predatory Stalker” who engages in pursuit behaviour to obtain sexual gratification.
If you’re affected by anything discussed in this article, please contact us below.
Call for help now
0808 2800 999
Open Monday – Friday, 9.30am – 4:30pm (closed for half an hour lunch at 1pm)
Our One Front Door helpline is completely free and confidential, and the call will not show up on itemised bills.