Anti-stalking services in Cork are expanded

THE Union of Students in Ireland has teamed up with the Sexual Violence Centre Cork to highlight services for victims of stalking.

Director of the centre, Mary Crilly, who was inducted into the Cork Person of the Year Hall of Fame on Friday, said they have been running an anti-stalking campaign for years. A victim helpline has been set up, and the centre is collaborating with University College Cork in researching stalking.

“The centre is very involved in anti-stalking, and has been for years, and is the contact for the crime victims’ helpline. We have quite a number of victims of stalking from around the country who have made contact with us because of our profile. We’re one of the only ones doing it,” said Ms Crilly. 

“When you look at the victims of stalking, people might see it as the majority being stalked by intimate partners. But the research shows that 50% aren’t.”

Anti-stalking campaigner Dola Twomey said there is no standalone offence of stalking. Legislation has been promised and is due to take force this summer.

 “When something hasn’t been clearly defined, then it can be missed,” Ms Twomey said. “It’s like a gap. If you look at domestic violence, then you had legislation brought in for coercive control. As soon as that happened, victims began to identify it, and the general public began to get it. So the same thing is going to happen with stalking.”

Ms Twomey said harassment online is increasingly prevalent. “It can be used to stalk people, to harass people, to monitor people.” There is no separate identified service for victims of stalking. “When we started getting involved in this, we offered services for victims of stalking in Ireland, and we have been doing that for about two years. People find their way to us,” said Ms Twomey.

'ANYBODY CAN BE STALKED'

Gardaí are improving in their responses, but there is no unit dedicated to anti-stalking. Most cases are male-on-female stalking, but not exclusively. 

“The truth is anybody can be stalked, and anybody can be a stalker,” said Ms Twomey.

There are a multitude of motivations for stalking, ranging from a person who isn’t prepared to let a relationship end, and believes they have a sense of ‘entitlement’ over the victim, to the delusional stalker who believes they are in a relationship with the victim.

While the Sexual Violence Centre Cork doesn’t have a refuge, they will refer a victim to one in emergency situations. “Hopefully, if that legislation goes through, then awareness of it will increase. The services will increase, and we will be in a better position,” said Ms Twomey.

Gardaí have protective services units across Ireland. “They specialise in sexual and domestic violence. They may well be the specialised units to deal with this as well,” said Ms Twomey. 

Barring orders and safety orders are available through the district courts, but these can depend on the victims’ relationships to the perpetrators, and whether they are residing together. The new legislation will create specific stalking orders. “They are another tool in the arsenal to protect people. They would be so important,” added Ms Twomey.

• See www.sexualviolence.ie.