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Stalking helpline to be launched

2010-04-29 13:26:13

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