| Network for Surviving Stalking
There will, perhaps, always be a lack of understanding about
stalking and about what life is like for those affected by stalking.
There is little or no education of the effects it has on those
involved, and a huge disconnect between how professionals and
the many agencies deal with the problem. Network for Surviving
Stalking intends to raise awareness of all the problems of stalking
and educate those involved.
Tracey Morgan. the the founder member of Network for Surviving Stalking and a survivor of stalking used her personal experience
of stalking to help campaign for legislation to create the Protection
from Harassment Act 1997.
Despite much research and awareness, stalking is still very much
misunderstood as a crime, people believing that it is just a celebrity
problem or that stalkers are a minor nuisance who, if you ignore,
will go away.
As victims know, stalking /harassment is a devastating crime
which can destroy lives. The hardest part for a victim is being
believed and being unable to show the psychological damage being
done.
History
The Network for Surviving Stalking was founded by Tracey Morgan.
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 and that she was just being paranoid. Coping with the
fear and isolation of being stalked was bad enough but Tracey
had to take on the Criminal Justice System too. It convinced her
that something had to be done to make society sit up and listen
to those affected by stalking/harassment.
Tracey Morgan’s battle has been tireless. She has fought
for the rights of those affected by stalking in almost every area
of British life. In association with her two dedicated police
officers, campaigned to gain the support of the Association of
Chief Police Officers [ACPO], The Suzy Lamplugh Trust and the
Home Office and many others to persuade the Government that stalking
should be taken seriously. As a result of Tracey’s own case
and this campaign, the Protection from Harassment Act was introduced
in 1997.
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