Stalking

Stalking is a form of harassment or behaviour designed to intimidate or torment another person.

There is no typical stalker. A stalker may be your former spouse, someone you have had a relationship with, a neighbour, a co-worker, a former employee or a stranger.

The law is there to protect you if someone has been:

• following you
• loitering outside your home or workplace, or anywhere you visit frequently
• interfering with your property
• watching you
• telephoning or otherwise contacting you
• leaving something offensive where you will find it or
• threatening or intimidating you.

The behaviour may be directed towards someone close to you, such as your child. For the behaviour to be an offence under the law, it must reasonably:

• cause you to fear violence to yourself, your property or to someone else or their property
• cause you serious mental, psychological or emotional harm
• prevent or hinder your actions
• cause you to act in a way you wouldn’t under normal circumstances, for example selling your house.

The behaviour must have occurred on one, drawn out occasion, or on more than one occasion. However the law does not state that the incidents must occur within a certain time, they could have occurred on the same day or months apart and can be different acts.