- Area:
- England
- Programme:
- Reaching Communities
- Release date:
- 19 3 2013
A new England-wide service that will give a voice to victims of stalking has been given the support of the BIG Lottery Fund ( BIG ) today.
The nation-wide scheme will use its £355,000 lottery good cause award to develop a supportive network for victims of stalking, providing information to the public, parliament and media and carrying out a post-legislative scrutiny of the laws to review their effectiveness.
The project is one of 62 to have been awarded funding from BIG today, totalling almost £15m.
The Paladin-National Stalking Advocacy Service has been created by campaigners who successfully lobbied for the new stalking laws passed last November. It will enable caseworkers to liaise with multiple agencies to assist victims on a local level, including local authorities, the police, the probation service, solicitors and self-help groups.
The project will create a victim's support network, which will involve victims as ambassadors for the project. Each victim will record how the service has impacted on their experiences and the information will be used to demonstrate where further changes in law could benefit victims. The network will also enable victims to support each other when they meet across the country.
The project plans to develop expertise on risk assessment and identification as well as guidance on safety measures for victims and their families. Victims who are categorised as high risk will be prioritised. The project’s caseworkers will also ensure victim impact statements are taken and included at court, and will liaise with organisations over prison release of perpetrators.
According to the British Crime Survey there are approximately 120,000 predominantly female victims of stalking every year - although many more go unreported - and less than half are recorded as crimes. Since the government introduced two new offences last November, stalking and stalking involving a fear of violence, the organisation hopes the prevalence of this crime will become better understood. The National Stalking Advocacy Service was established in the same month in response to this change in legislation.
The experiences of victims are harrowing - many had more than 100 unwanted contacts from their stalkers before coming forward, including being followed, threatened, visits to work, damage to property, unwanted abusive calls, texts and emails and many have been physically hurt. Many suffer post traumatic stress disorder and feel they suffer secondary victimisation at the hands of the system.
Harry Fletcher, Director of the National Stalking Advocacy Service, said: “Stalking is a serious crime. It can both steal and take lives. Thousands of predominantly women victims are stalked relentlessly every year. A combination of real life and cyber stalking can have an immensely traumatic impact on a person.
“England and Wales now have a specific stalking law as a result of our campaign, but more must be done. That is why the advocacy service which is being funded by Big Lottery will make a difference. Advocacy will support the women who are at risk. Liaison with criminal justice agencies will go a long way to ensuring that perpetrators are treated and punished appropriately. In addition the law will be monitored and scrutinised and victims protected.
CASE STUDY : Sam Taylor was stalked by her former partner for four-and-a-half years, following the breakdown of their relationship in 2008. She had discovered her long term partner and the father of her two young children had once been convicted of raping a 14-year-old girl, and had served a five year prison sentence before they met. Unaware he had been on the sex offenders’ register for almost a decade and traumatised by the confession, she asked the children’s father to leave the family home .This resulted in abusive behaviour, criminal damage, threats to kill, numerous restraining orders breached, four custodial sentences and current geographical restrictions.
The university lecturer, who spoke in last year’s parliamentary inquiry for Stalking Law Reform, said: “In total there have been approximately 94 recorded offences of stalking against me by the perpetrator. The police, the domestic violence charity RISE and Laura Richards, a criminal behavioural analyst and co-founder of the charity Protection Against Stalking, have all assessed my case as high risk. Yet in spite of four years of endless stalking and threats to my life, emotional abuse, intimidation and harassment, there was clearly very little in place within the law to protect victims and their families.
“Before I experienced stalking and harassment first hand I naively assumed that victims could rely on the systems in place to protect them against endless threats of violence and stalking. I have been horrified to discover this is not the case.”
“Having experienced everything from the inside out, it really got to the point for me where anyone who was assessing the situation knew less than I did. The Advocacy Service will have to be so robust at giving training for the advocates as the system is extremely complex.”
Nat Sloane, Big Lottery Fund Chair, said: “It is in part a testament to the hard work and campaigning of Harry Fletcher and his colleagues that new laws were passed last year to finally recognise stalking as a criminal offence and to help protect victims and bring justice to their perpetrators. Previously harassment and intimidation could needlessly turn into violence or even murder, because police lacked sufficient powers to investigate stalking offences before they escalated.
“Following this important legislative change, I am sure the Paladin-National Stalking Advocacy Service will provide vital support to many people by creating a national network for victims, and by liaising with public services and agencies to improve awareness of this terrible crime.
“I am delighted that almost £15m of Lottery funding will be put to good use to support and empower communities across the month to lead more fulfilling lives.”
Also receiving funding today is the Dyspraxia Foundation, which will spend its grant of £166,265 on providing support to children and adults with Dyspraxia as well as their families, aiming to reduce educational exclusion and increase the employability of sufferers. An England-wide helpline will be established, while workshops and outreach work will take place in Manchester and Birmingham where a particular need has been identified. The outreach will be undertaken through a series of workshops reaching parents, adults with Dyspraxia, teachers and medical professionals and will be run in association with local disability groups. The workshops will be filmed and highlights will be made available online to widen the reach of the project.
Dyspraxia is a little known but relatively common lifelong neurological disorder affecting up to six per cent of the population. It can affect areas of development such as emotional, physical, language, intellectual, social and sensory. People with Dyspraxia are often misunderstood and misdiagnosed with behaviours, lack of co-ordination and frustration being seen as disruptive. Young adults with Dyspraxia have a higher chance of being unemployed, having reading and writing difficulties and having a criminal record.
The project will engage with young people through social media, as well as the chance to speak to other sufferers who are experiencing similar problems. A text service for deaf people with Dyspraxia will also be developed, and adults with Dyspraxia who are struggling in the workplace will be given support and advice with regard to communicating effectively and social and co-ordination difficulties.
Chair of the Dyspraxia Foundation Michele Lee said: “We are delighted with the support of the Big Lottery Fund which will transform the lives of thousands of families in the UK who struggle with the condition. It affects two children in every class yet few people know about it. With this backing we can now start to give people essential help and advice to reach their potential through our national network.”
Today’s funding comes from BIG’s Reaching Communities programme, which awards grants ranging from £10,000 to £500,000 to communities most in need.
A full list of the 62 Reaching Communities grants announced today.
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• The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
• BIG is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK. Since its inception in 2004 BIG has awarded close to £6bn.
• The Fund was formally established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to good causes. As a result, over £29 billion has now been raised and more than 383,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
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