The director of Foyle Women's Aid has described how she was personally targeted by a stalker attempting to "get to the person he wanted to control" through her organisation.
Marie Brown, speaking to Belfast Live, also said the number of arrests for stalking in Northern Ireland will "definitely increase".
She made the comments after the PSNI published the number of arrests made across Northern Ireland under new legislation that makes stalking a criminal offence.
In the Derry and Strabane policing area, eight arrests have been made since the legislation was introduced to Northern Ireland a year ago.
In the Causeway Coast and Glens area, five have been made and across Northern Ireland as a whole there have been a total of 80 arrests.
Marie Brown said: "It's a low number but it's not because it's not happening - I can tell you that it is. Those numbers will increase. They will definitely increase because this is just the legislation, the crime is already happening whether a person decides to report it or not. We would encourage people to report it.
"People aren't aware and don't always contact the police on this issue, even when we are involved and substantial stalking has been going on for some time. We really want to create an awareness that this is against the law, it is a crime, and that it's not allowed to happen.
"It's been happening for years so sometimes there's a tendency for people to deal with it themselves. Previously, we didn't have the legislation so previous reporting of this wouldn't have been taken forward.
"We really welcome the legislation and we will be creating awareness around the law and the right to report. It's very serious. We don't see it in isolation. We see it linked to domestic violence as well, although having said that we have seen it with women who have been stalked by people they might know from work, who are not in a relationship, but in the majority of cases it is someone they know."
She continued: "In the past it was hard to get attention, to be listened to, but now it is a crime. Examples we would see would be following somebody, turning up at events, at appointments, turning up in a menacing way, turning up in the street, sitting in cars, watching your every activity, spyware which is often used in phones."
On her own experience of stalking, she said: "I had been stalked twice in my role in Women's Aid because of my role."
Describing one, specific example, she said: "Someone appeared, was following me around a store, and as I was talking to somebody he stepped into the conversation to say 'you need to be careful'. It wasn't even someone I knew personally.
"This was because my organisation was intervening. It was someone who decided they would try to scare me off because he was desperate to get to the person he wanted to control. That was after coming to the office, wanting information. It was behaviour like that. It was not very pleasant. He turned up out of the blue and he had to have followed me there and said 'you need to be careful' so it was a direct threat.
"That, for me, was sinister enough but I didn't live with this man, I didn't have any other contact but it impacted on me. I can imagine how it impacts when you've been in a relationship with someone who has frightened you, intimidated you, coercively controlled you, had done all of that and then started to follow you, to stalk you."
She continued: "It can be very intimidating and frightening for the people concerned.
"There have been women murdered as a result of stalking. There have been women who have suffered severe mental health issues because of stalking. It is a very serious crime and the psyche of someone who is stalking someone is a very serious offender and it needs to be taken very seriously."
Ms Brown added: "The legislation can save lives. We know of victims who have been absolutely terrified, so this is to be welcomed. But we have no resourcing behind this legislation. We are welcoming it but this is without budgets for police. We have no government to allocate budgets, and even the budgets that got allocated in the past never reached the ground for domestic violence through Women's Aid. Let's not just bring in the legislation without actually bringing in the resources to make a difference."
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