New stalking law will ‘make a huge difference’, says Cork advocate

Cork-based advocate for victims of stalking, Una Ring, has said that new legislative measures to prevent stalking behaviours will make a “huge difference.”

Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee TD, this week announced new provisions that will allow victims to apply to the District Court for a civil order to prohibit stalking behaviours.

This means that a victim will no longer be required to prove an intimate or personal relationship with the accused to achieve a protective order, and will not require an affected person to present the level of proof that is required to achieve a criminal conviction to achieve an order.

This new measure is being introduced by Part 5 of the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023, which was signed into law by the President in July of last year.

Apply

Under this Act, an affected person, or a member of An Garda Síochána acting on their behalf, can apply to the District Court for an order prohibiting another person from engaging in relevant conduct.

This extends protections, which are available to certain victims under the Domestic Violence Act 2018, to all victims of stalking behaviour.

Announcing the legislation, Ms McEntee said: “Providing for civil orders to prevent stalking is an important step forward in our work to tackle all forms of sexual and gender-based violence, regardless of the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator.

“Stalking can have very serious impacts on people subjected to it and I am introducing robust legislation to ensure that everyone has what is needed to ensure they are protected and safe.”

Speaking to The Echo,Ms Ring said that she and another victim advocate, Eve McDowell, had been discussing new legislative measures with Ms McEntee and her legal team at Leinster House for several years, as both women felt the existing protections for victims were “severely lacking.”

“We’ve been campaigning tirelessly for the last three years to get all this stuff done and stalking was made a standalone crime last November. Now this is the next part of that legislation,” said Ms Ring.

“When I was going through it, because he was an ex-colleague [her stalker], it wasn’t available for me at all.

“I didn’t meet the criteria because I didn’t have a relationship with him beforehand, so I wasn’t able to get any order of protection against him. Had I been able to, maybe it would have stopped it from escalating to the point it did.

“The fact that you don’t have to have a relationship with somebody now is huge, because it’s crazy not to be able to get a protection order against somebody just because you’ve never been involved with them.

“It’s going to help an awful lot of people now that you can get an order against anybody,” she added.

Deterrent 

While Ms Ring believes this new measure will be a deterrent for perpetrators escalating their behaviour, she said she does not believe it will deter them from starting it.

“It will be a huge deterrent I think for people to stop escalating, [but] I don’t think it will stop it starting,” she said.

“That’s just the mindset of [a stalker] anyway, but I think it might deter them from continuing at least.

“The main thing is that the guards can apply on someone else’s behalf, so the person doesn’t have to go to the District Court themselves.

“It is a big deal and it’s going to make a huge difference,” she added.

Mary Crilly, founder and director of the Cork based Sexual Violence Centre, urged people who are being stalked to get in contact with the centre. Picture: Larry Cummins.

Founder and CEO of the Sexual Violence Centre Cork, Mary Crilly, said: “Victims are saying to us that they are really glad this is coming [into effect] because they feel they are now going to be taken seriously.

“It’s a very serious crime and often leads to escalations. It’s brilliant that this has been introduced now.”

Ms Crilly said that she would like to see increased information available to the public on how this new legislation will be implemented, coupled with television ads that will help combat stalking behaviours from beginning in the first instance.

“We’re going to keep working on it, making sure it’s implemented, and letting people know it’s there,” she said.

“People have serious mental health issues after stalking, so I would ask people if they feel they are being stalked, give us a call, we’ll talk it through and take it seriously.”

For further information on the new legislation, or for information on victim services, visit: https://www.stalkinginireland.ie.