Insecurity linked to stalking

By ROBINSON LEKA
INSECURITY among people in relationships is a common cause for stalking, a magistrate says.
Senior magistrate Rosie Johnson pointed out that people stalking their partners was a traumatising experience for the victims which the law recognised as a form of domestic violence that came under the Family Protection Act.
Johnson said victims of stalking were most times vulnerable and were at risk of being victims to other forms of abuse because their partners did not trust them.
She explained that the lack of trust among partners had resulted in them constantly tracking the whereabouts and activities of their partners.
“It’s to do with our own insecurity. You have to be insecure to be thinking along those lines about your spouse,” she said.
“It’s sad but true.
“There’s no trust anymore, there is a lot of stalking going on with the use of the mobile phones, it’s worse.
“You don’t feel free. You feel that somebody is always watching over you.
“You are affected, you are traumatised so you are very careful.
“You’re very cautious about whom you are with, whom you are talking with.
“It boils down to freedom and you don’t have that freedom. There’s no freedom, you feel that you can’t do anything.”
Magistrate Johnson said the court could give restraining orders that could provide protection for victims and the breach of these orders would result in a penalty not exceeding K5,000 or an imprisonment term not exceeding two years, or both.