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A UK-wide helpline for victims of stalking is being launched later.
The phone service, which is funded by the Home Office and private donations,
was developed with the police.
Campaigners believe stalking is under-reported because victims fear they will
not be taken seriously. They estimate there are up to 2m victims in the UK.
Tricia Bernal, whose daughter Clare, 22, was shot dead in a London Harvey
Nichols store by her ex-boyfriend in 2005, helped to set up the helpline.
At the time of the shooting in Knightsbridge, Michael Pech was awaiting
sentencing after admitting harassment. The former soldier stalked Ms Bernal
after the end of their brief relationship earlier that year.
After killing Ms Bernal, from Groombridge on the Kent/Sussex border, he turned
the gun on himself and committed suicide.
The confidential helpline will have one number for callers anywhere in the UK
and there will be a single point of contact in every police force.
The service will be run by Protection Against Stalking, formerly the CRT Trust,
the charity Mrs Bernal helped to start in 2008, in collaboration with the Suzy
Lamplugh Trust and Network for Surviving Stalking.
Alexis Bowater, chief executive of the Network for Surviving Stalking, said it
was important people who thought they were being stalked had someone to turn
to.
"Of course the first point of contact if you are being stalked or think you're
being stalked should be the police. But some people feel that they can't talk
to the police about it and this is where the helpline will come in," she said.
A survey by the University of Leicester, which was the biggest of its kind in
Europe, found that three-quarters of victims wait until there have been at
least 100 incidents before they approach the police.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/8650603.stm
Published: 2010/04/29 06:15:27 GMT