CBC The Passionate Eye (2019.01.26) Stalkers

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Stalkers follows three high-risk victims, each trying to bring a resolution to their ordeal, and the organization trying to protect them from this invasive and terrifying crime.

Every year, one million people in the UK are stalked. Yet fewer than 1% of cases end in conviction. A 2017 UK government report revealed nationwide failings in the way that police and prosecutors respond to stalking cases.

Paladin is an independent charity in the UK fighting to protect victims of stalking. Staffed by a specialist team of domestic abuse caseworkers and former police and probation staff, the charity advises victims of stalking on gathering evidence and lobbies the police to take action.

Known in Canada as criminal harassment, stalking has profound consequences for the victims, both personal and professional. In Stalkers, we see Paladin in action, trying to protect victims from crimes such as online hate mail, abusive phone calls, vandalism, being followed at work, and even death threats from total strangers. In one case a victim reported his abuse more than one hundred times to the UK police and made forty different witness statements. Instead of being charged with stalking, the perpetrator was only served with restraining orders.

MORE: Stalking is a serious crime in Canada, and it isn’t getting the attention it requires

Filmed over 12 months, Stalkers vividly shows what it’s like to suffer ongoing abuse.