Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper stated that the law needs to strengthen the Protection Against Harassment Act to protect women.
On Saturday September 24, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper spoke at a conference held by women of the Labour Party, stating that the current protection against harassment law should be “corrected”, and police officers should review attacks thoroughly in order to keep the public safe from violent attacks.
According to the British Crime Survey from 2010-2011, over 50,000 cases of harassment were reported, yet only 2.2% of these resulted in conviction.
Ms Cooper has only recently become an MP, and has already been given the role of Shadow Home Secretary after replacing her husband, MP Ed Balls.
She said that stalking is an area that needs to be assessed properly and action should be taken to clarify the harassment law in order to “prevent it from leading to more serious crimes”. She stated the law needs to address areas where “criminal justice” does not seem to protect people.
“There have been too many tragic cases of women and men being stalked, and a lack of clarity in the law has allowed this to go on for too long and led to heinous crimes – and this must end.” said Ms Cooper at the conference on Saturday.
She also stated that she wanted to see the law implement a new risk assessment system, which is able to thoroughly asses the stalkers convicted for crimes, and offer counselling to victims of attacks.
MP’s are now investigating reports of stalking, as it is not currently an illegal offence in the UK, and reports of harassment will be reviewed in early 2012 as to whether the law will change its policies.
By Bethan Hâf Marsh
[Image courtesy of Pensiero]
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