News/Blog
Stalking Awareness Week - New Resource!
As part of Stalking Awareness Week and to celebrate the launch of our new resource on Reporting Stalking we checked in for a quick Q&A with Sarah who works at a local Women’s Aid service to find out how she is getting on using FollowItApp, our innovative new mobile app that supports victim-survivors of stalking to document their experience.
Very often there’s a mismatch between people’s idea of what stalking is, and what the law in Scotland has to say. Scots Law says that the crime of stalking is a course of conduct - this means an incident that takes place two or more times - that places another person in a state of fear or alarm. That means that non-criminal acts, for example sending a text message that says ‘your hair looks nice today’, become criminal and can therefore be reported when they happen twice or more and when they cause the victim to feel afraid. The above text could easily make someone feel afraid, because this is intended to let them know that they are being watched. There are no rules about who can and can’t be a stalker; it can be a friend, acquaintance, or even a total stranger, but most of the time it is a partner or ex-partner and stalking is often experienced as part of domestic abuse.
Experiencing stalking? There’s an app for that.
Name a problem, and someone, somewhere, is developing a digital solution.
Technology is a double edged sword; it can be hazardous, irritating and relentless, but it can also unleash immeasurable creativity and help to provide solutions for age old problems. Importantly for us, at the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre and media co-op, technology is helping us to put power back in the hands of women who have experienced abuse, and changing the landscape for stalking victim-survivors in Scotland.
RSS
