Over the last few days Lily Allen’s horrific ordeal has come to light. For over 7 years, Allen was viciously stalked by a man she didn’t even know. But the worst part? Allen felt that she was “victim-shamed” by the police for trying to get some form of help and protection against her stalker.
This prompts the question: If Lily Allen, a singer and high profile celebrity cannot get the police to respond appropriately, where does that leave the rest of us?
It is unfortunate that it has taken a high profile case for the issues of victims of stalking to finally come to light. Looking at Twitter and Facebook in the wake of Allen’s BBC Newsnight interview shows that this is not the first time a person has felt let down by the police response, charging or sentence outcomes when dealing with a stalking crime.
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So why do people feel so let down? The problem can often be that stalking cases are not always treated in the way they should be, with officers approaching reports is the same way as other crimes: simply in terms of whether or not the offence has been committed. But prosecuting a case of stalking can take weeks, months and in severe cases, years.
In her BBC interview, Allen claimed that investigators has treated her as a “nuisance rather than a victim.” Through the course of her ordeal, Allen states that evidence that supported her case was destroyed, her panic alarm was taken away from her after only a few months and she was refused to see and then keep a picture of her stalker, should she ever be able to see and identify her stalker in the future.
Listening to Allen it’s hard to imagine what it must have been like to living in fear of a very real violence. By responding to a victim’s distress insensitively, the outcome can have a debilitating effect on a person’s ability to cope, leaving them feeling isolated and vulnerable.
According to Sophie Walker, leader of the Women’s Equality party and their candidate in London’s mayoral race, Allen’s case is an example of how anti-stalking measures are not working. Backed by Allen, they are campaigning for a register of stalkers to be kept, in the same way as with sex offenders, allowing police to keep track of people who are often repeat offenders. With only 1% of stalking cases and 16% of harassment cases ending in prosecution, Walker believes there are “appalling” failures in tackling the crime and understanding the impact on victims.
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Given the complex and heterogeneous nature of mental disorder among stalkers, it’s role can vary widely. Stalking can materialise in different types, varying from the incompetent suitor, resentful motivations to intimacy seeking. Because of the nuanced nature of the effects of the stalker’s mental illness, often stalking can run the risk of resulting in violence if the mental illness is left untreated.
In Allen’s case, what should have been treated as unsettling behaviour – Gray broke into Allen’s bedroom and started yelling obscenities before stealing her purse – was not. Whatever Gray’s sentence, a period of court-ordered mental health treatment is one of the best ways of reducing the risk of him posing a threat in the future.
Even though Allen’s case highlights some of the systematic problems in the system it should not act as a deterrent for other victims to come forward. Help is out there and it’s vital that people aren’t afraid to say something.
If you or someone you know are feeling harassed there are helplines such as The Stalking Helpline which can give advice on what to do if you feel at risk of emotional or physical harm.