Long-time advocates for anti-stalking laws say new Government legislation doesn’t go far enough, and could fail to capture some offenders.
Currently before Parliament, the new law could send stalkers to prison for up to five years when they commit two specified acts – such as following a person, recording or doxing them – within a two-year period.
One survivor, who spoke to 1News anonymously for her own safety, said she was stalked for months several years ago by a man she briefly dated – and wished more could have been done.
“It took me a very long time to feel safe again, like every time I left my house I would be looking around me,” she said.
“It sort of really ruined my trust in other people for quite a while and I would have felt safer if there had been other consequences for the perpetrator at the time.”
She said lasting impacts of this behaviour had left her fearful, and lonely.
“It’s made me not feel safe at home for a long time, it’s cost me a lot of money having to pay for security systems… and I think the biggest thing is the shame.”
While the law change would make her feel safer, she worried the wording of the current legislation – which required the perpetrator to know their behaviour would “likely cause fear or distress” – allowed perpetrators an easy defence.
Auckland Women’s Centre Manager Leonie Morris, who is also the project lead for Aotearoa Free From Stalking, says the group has lobbied hard to have that wording changed to “ought to know”.
“We think that if the wording was changed more women, more rangatahi, more public figures would be protected by the law.”
She said stalkers often claim they are “motivated by love” for the person they are stalking.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said people would argue about the wording, but he believed the balance was right.
“This legislation catches a wide range of behaviours, and that people know they’re causing distress, I think is an appropriate balance.”
The law would also allow police to notify someone if they believed they were stalking another person. That person was then “assumed to know” their behaviour was “likely to cause fear or distress” and that evidence could later be used in court.
Until now, New Zealand has not had a standalone stalking law, although some stalking behaviours are covered by several different pieces of legislation, such as the Crimes Act and the Harassment Act.
The bill followed a long fight from campaigners, with a petition signed by 20,000 people last year.
This followed the 2022 murder of AUT law student Farzana Yaqubi, who had gone to police about a stalker multiple times before she was killed.
The cause has cross-party support, with a Member’s Bill drafted by Labour’s Ginny Andersen last year, and the Government later announced it would introduce a law by the end of the year.
