A clinical psychologist has outlined the mental health drivers of stalking — something a fifth of women will experience in their lifetime — amid renewed calls to make the behaviour illegal under the Crimes Act in New Zealand.
An open letter to the Justice Minister, along with a petition signed by more than 10,000 people was published on Monday.
Last month, Labour Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence spokesperson Ginny Andersen proposed to introduce a members' bill to include stalking as an offence to caucus "as soon as possible."
Under her proposal stalkers could face prison time of between 12 months and three years.
There would be stronger penalties if the person has possession of a weapon, and for those who engage in behaviour of stalking a victim or loitering near a person’s home or work with intent to intimidate.
Stalking has also been highlighted through the popular Netflix series, Baby Reindeer, a story based on real life events involving a struggling comedian who is pursued by a female admirer.
Clinical psychologist Alan Underwood is the co-author of the book Treating Stalking: A Practical Guide for Clinicians. Speaking to Breakfast this morning, he outlined factors motivating people to stalk.
He said 20% of women will experience stalking in their lifetime, and men 10%.
"[Stalking] a lot of every day behaviours that when they come together, they form this pattern of unwanted repeated imposed behaviour on another person that causes distress and fear."
Underwood says stalking was often the result of a mental health disorder which described a certain pattern of behaviour.
"There are lots of different factors that will come together, there are broadly five motivations that we see commonly in stalking cases.
"Half of cases will be an ex-partner, where the behaviour will appear at the end of a relationship, either to try and rekindle and repair that relationship, or to punish the person for leaving.
"Then there's the group called the intimacy seekers and incompetent suitors who are seeking a relationship from another person;very much like in the case of Baby Reindeer, this person is trying to seek a relationship which is often driven by loneliness."
He said this could be due to mental health, personality difficulty, or sometimes autism and social learning difficulties.
A personal account and a plea
Yesterday mental health advocate Jazz Thornton took to social media to share her recent stalking experience and encourage people to sign the petition.
Thornton said a man who was stalking her flew from the Netherlands and tracked down her home address within two days.
She said on Instagram: "It is WILD to me that stalking is not a crime here in NZ. Having experienced it very recently in a very scary situation it was so horrific having to live on edge, worried about every sound you hear.
"Knowing the police had to sit and wait for him to escalate not knowing his intentions of flying 20+ hours to find me was terrifying to not only me, but everyone close to me who this man had both contacted & impacted.
"I was lucky in the fact that it didnt reach worst case scenario — but others have not been as lucky. PLEASE, sign the petition. Victims of stalking should not have to fear for their safety because of a lack of law.
"My guy has now left the country so we are safe — but many others are in the same situation. Make the government act on their promise pre election of making this a crime."
As of Wednesday, 10,245 people had signed the open letter urging the Government to act.
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