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THE wording of laws meant to protect stalking victims is helping perpetrators get away with the crime, a South Australian study says. Ingrid Kotka, who undertook the study as part of her thesis at the University of SA, found some victims were not even aware there were laws to help them. A survey in October of 40 SA stalking victims - five men and 35 women - showed many cases went against the stereotype of the crime which, Ms Kotka said, was about control. "There are a lot of misunderstandings about the impact and the effects on victims," she said. "One thing to come out of this is that there isn't a typical experience." Many who responded to the survey were being stalked by people using SMS text messages. "There are people being bombarded with SMS testing, so a stalker doesn't need to know where you are any more to stalk you," Ms Kotka said. "Traditional stalking often involved telephone harassment, but, now with mobiles and SMS, stalkers can harass you no matter where you are. "You don't necessarily know if the perpetrator is a man or a woman as the verbal element is removed." SA has one of the highest rates of stalking reports to police. Very few result in prosecution. "Most end up being dismissed, probably because of the difficulty in proving intent. "Ms Kotka said. "The law states a person must intend to cause serious apprehension or fear - which is a problem proving and can be dismissed with the perpetrator stating there was no intent." Of those surveyed, more than half had reported incidents. Most, however, felt there was a lack of understanding from police. "There are cases where police defined it as harassment and not stalking and, in terms of prosecuting the perpetrator, it can be quite difficult to prove, so the police may feel 'what's the point of proceeding'," Ms Kotka said. Others felt restraining orders taken out with police were ineffective. "One respondent was bombarded with flowers and chocolates, her stalker even introduced himself to her father," Ms Kotka said. "For her, it wasn't pleasant and she became fearful, but the police couldn't see it because what she was receiving were nice gifts, but even a flower left on a car sends the message 'I know where you are and I can get you at any time'." Others felt that because there was no physical aspect to the offender's behaviour, it was not a police matter. Legislation was amended last year to incorporate Internet, SMS and other electronic forms of stalking. Adelaide Advertiser (22-4-2005) Sam Riches |
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