About the Network for Surviving Stalking
Background
The Network for Surviving Stalking was founded by Tracey Morgan in 2001. Tracey used her personal experience of stalking to help campaign for legislation to create the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.
Her experience showed her that help and advice about stalking was almost non-existent. Initially she was told that unless her stalker actually committed an offence, nothing could be done to help her. Coping with the fear and isolation of being stalked was bad enough but Tracey had to take on the Criminal Justice System too. As a result of Tracey’s own case the Protection from Harassment Act was introduced in 1997.
Network for Surviving Stalking Today
NSS is run by a small team of nationwide volunteers, advisors and Trustees. We are represented by a number of Professionals from the fields of Policing, Law, Psychiatry and Criminology in the UK. Our new Chief Executive is Alexis Bowater. Alexis anchored ITV West Country news for seven years. During her fifteen years working in the media she has had experience of stalking on 3 separate occasions. In the latest case, Alexander Reeve was sentenced to four years and one month in prison in April 2009. Since the conviction, Alexis has spoken out and written about the reality of stalking. She’s committed to improving services for stalking victims and to raising awareness about a crime that can leave victims terrified, isolated and feeling very lonely.
Campaigning
We represent the interests of stalking victims in a number of influential arenas. We are committed to speaking out to improve services for stalking victims in the UK. Notably NSS is a member of the Association of Chief Police Officer’s working party on Stalking and Harassment. We’re working with the UK Home Office to represent the concerns and views of stalking victims. We also support Action Scotland Against Stalking – a newly formed campaign group that’s aiming to improve services for Scottish stalking victims. NSS also produces the only newsletter for stalking victims in the UK.
Helping Stalking Victims
In a major break-through in June 2009 The Network for Surviving Stalking formed a working partnership with The Suzy Lamplugh Trust at the Centre for Personal Safety. This means there is now a source of direct help and advice for stalking victims. Anyone requiring help can contact 0207 0910014 and ask for EXTENSION ONE. We thank staff at Suzy Lamplugh Trust for all their hard work and hope the partnership continues to grow from strength to strength. In Autumn 2009 we started work with Suzy Lamplugh Trust and the charity Protection Against Stalking to set up a dedicated helpline funded by the UK Home Office for stalking victims. The launch is expected in Spring.
Research
As part of our mission to raise awareness about stalking and harassment, NSS is involved in 2 major research projects. We’ve teamed up with The University of Bedfordshire Psychology department for a ground-breaking project on cyber-stalking and on-line communication. And we’re working with International stalking expert Lorraine Sheridan to produce the biggest ever survey of UK stalking victims. To find out more about our research projects email jane@nss.org.uk
Media
We couldn’t raise awareness about stalking and harassment without the help of the media. Since a ‘relaunch’ in January 2009 NSS has assisted numerous journalists, writers and researchers. The Guardian, The Sun, The Independent on Sunday, The Sunday Times, The Daily Mail, News of the World Magazine, BBC factual, ITV, Cosmopolitan, Company, Real Radio and BBC Radio 5 Live are just some of the media organisations we’ve assisted.
Training
NSS is also committed to providing training about stalking and harassment. In February 2010 we worked with the National Policing Improvement Agency to provide training about stalking to police contact staff (civilians working on front desks at police stations as well as those working in control rooms and call centres around the country.) We’re currently producing a pilot training project for Victim Support which we hope will be rolled out to other areas in the future. Plus we’re assisting Essex police with training their officers in stalking and harassment.
