Sadiq Khan has urged the Government to tackle “failures in the criminal justice system” which have worsened the problem of stalking in London, according to a new report this week.
The London Stalking Review, authored by the mayor’s independent victims’ commissioner, Claire Waxman, has found that two thirds of stalking offences in the capital are committed by repeat offenders.
As well as reversing the effects of austerity on the criminal justice system, Mr Khan said he also wanted to see more work done to prevent a societal shift towards misogyny.
Ms Waxman’s review recommended that stalking legislation “be reformed to ensure it is working to protect victims”.
She added: “The Government should create a standalone stalking offence that provides a clear definition of stalking to simplify investigations and prosecutions and remove the onus on the victim to prove the impact of the behaviour, which is at too high a threshold.”
The commissioner also warned that victims are currently “forced to be persistent in order to have stalking recognised by the police and have its impact taken seriously”.
Ms Waxman found that 45 per cent of stalking cases ended with the victim withdrawing from the justice process, while 41 per cent saw no further police action on their complaints - with a lack of evidence often cited as the reason, despite the fact that most stalking cases at least partly involve phone calls and text messages.
Responding to the report, the mayor said it was “really important we understand there is a national epidemic of violence against women and girls,” pointing to a recent, separate report from the National Police Chiefs' Council, which says that such violence has risen by almost 40 per cent in the last five years.
“Stalking is part of that [trend],” said Mr Khan. “Some of the failures in the criminal justice system that Claire Waxman has highlighted - they need to be addressed.
“Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, has accepted the criticism that Claire has made of the criminal justice system - a consequence, yes, of austerity, but also a consequence of society not addressing these issues.
“Prevention and early intervention is really important. The public health approach is really important - you know, [preventing] children growing up thinking Andrew Tate is saying sensible things.
“Children growing up thinking it's OK to treat girls a certain way, seeps into [their mindset] when boys become men.
“But also when women report stalking, it’s not being addressed by the police, and so [there are] a number of issues from that - but also what happens when somebody is charged and it reaches court. If somebody is taking two, three years before there's a trial, don't be surprised if the attrition rates are so high.”
Asked whether he was aware of the severity of the issue before the review’s publication, the mayor said: “One of the reasons why Claire undertook her review was [because] we were concerned about some of the stories we were hearing in relation to stalking.
“One of the reasons why the Met Police Service set up the stalking centres in our BCUs [basic command centres]... was because of concerns they had.
“But the work Claire has done is there in black and white for everyone to see. This is not just my views, or individual officers’, this is the view based upon looking at the evidence.”
One in five women and one in 10 men in the UK have been victims of stalking, according to the report.
Commander Kevin Southworth, the Met's public protection lead, has said that the force welcomes the report's findings and recognises the need for change.
“The Met is transforming the way it protects the public from harm, better targeting predatory offenders and identifying stalkers as early as possible,” he said this week.
