Cyber stalking becoming more of an issue across Teesside says charity
Eva Women's Aid says they're there to help victims
A Teesside domestic abuse support charity says 'cyber stalking' is becoming more of an issue and it is having a 'devastating impact' on victims.
Eva Women's Aid says they are helping people who are impacted physically and on social media as it is 'something they see quite regularly'.
Richinda Taylor, chief executive of the charity in Redcar, said: "It's good to see that the new Government are recognising domestic abuse as a national emergency, and therefore it's pushing the violence against women and girls agenda up into the public eye because we do need to talk about it. We do need to recognise that it exists.
"Stalking is becoming a greater issue than it ever has been and that's not just the phsyical act of stalking a victim but cyber stalking as well is becoming much more of an issue. It's something we see quite regularly at Eva Women's Aid and it has a devastating impact on victims.
"We all get a little bit concerned when the nights draw in and walking in the dark on your own is quite scary for some people, even in the day time, but let's be quite clear here - women aren't afraid of darker streets or isolated parks, they're afraid of male violence and that's what the real issue is here.
"If you feel like you're a victim of stalking, contact either Eva Women's Aid or another organisation in the area that can help you recognise those signs, and can help you with talking about the issue and finding out what we can do to support you. If you choose to report it to the police, we can support you with that as well.
"Not all perpetrators of abuse, stalking and harrassment and so on are arrested and brought to justice. We know that's not the case. We also know that well over half of the women we work with choose not to go through the criminal justice system, so the figures that are reported by the police are less than half the story.
"There are women who choose not to go through that process for lots of different reasons, but we know that even though there's a high figure that have been arrested because of stalking, not everybody will be brought to justice about that, not everybody will appear in court and not everybody will be sentenced for those crimes."