News/Blog

New survey: experiences of reporting stalking to the police

As part of our work to improve women’s experiences of the justice system, we have published a survey to hear from women who have reported stalking to the police in Scotland and their journey through the criminal justice process.

Stalking is a common form of abuse for women in Scotland, particularly for those living with domestic abuse. Since the Covid-19 pandemic started, there has also been a significant increase in stalking incidents, and we anticipate that this might lead more women to consider reporting the situation to the Police.

At the same time, we are aware that, despite the growing number of women living with stalking, this crime remains underreported. And for those who do take the decision to report, the experience can be less than positive.

We want to make sure that victims/survivors of stalking feel confident and able to report stalking to the police, with the certainty that their report will be taken seriously and that the process will be sensitive to the traumatic nature of this experience.

For this reason, we have commissioned a consultant to help us research the barriers that women face when reporting stalking as well as any issues they encounter in the criminal justice process. Our goal is to use this information to develop improvements that we can implement in partnerships with the services and agencies involved in this process.

Central to this work are the voices of victims/survivors of stalking. This is why we have launched a survey so that women have the opportunity to tell us what it was like for them to report the stalking incidents to the police and the changes they would like to see in this process.

In addition, we are inviting victims/survivors who have responded to the survey to take part in an interview with our consultant if they wish to expand on their answers.

To access the survey, please follow this link: https://buff.ly/2IcnjH9