Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader Elfyn Llwyd MP has secured promises that the Prime Minister will meet a delegation hosted by Mr Llwyd to discuss reforming the laws on stalking.
Mr Llwyd has called for the outdated Protection from Harassment Act (1997) to be revised amid warnings that not all reported incidents of stalking are taken seriously by police and also because there is an urgent need for “cyber stalking” to be recognised as a crime.
A campaign spearheaded by Mr Llwyd, already has support from close to 100 MPs from all parties, and is calling for a full review of the 1997 Act which is widely accepted to be out of date. The campaign is backed by Protection Against Stalking, the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, the Network for Surviving Stalking and Napo the Probation Union.
Mr Llwyd hosted an event on March 30th in the UK Parliament to boost awareness of National Stalking Awareness Week with representatives from charities, the probation services and with victims of stalking.
Commenting after the exchange at Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Llwyd said:
“I am very pleased that the Prime Minister has agreed to meet a group of representatives to discuss how we can tackle this vitally important issue.
“Stalking is a serious and growing problem which shatters lives.
“The current Act is not fit for purpose and hasn’t been reviewed in fifteen years. It needs urgent attention.
“Up to five million people experience stalking or harassment but statistics show that only a tiny percentage of reported harassment cases even reach court.
“The law must be revised to reflect the growing trend of cyber stalking too, so that justice is served to the thousands of people who are harassed over the internet.
“Defining stalking more sufficiently in law would be a start but we must also combat society’s lenient attitude towards stalking and do all we can to help victims.
“No one should have to suffer stalking and I will do all I can to raise awareness of the issue so that it can be firmly tackled.”
