In 2020, stalking support services and police forces recorded a surge in stalkers turning to online tactics to harass individuals during lockdowns, particularly in the first four weeks of the first lockdown, as people were like sitting ducks stuck in their homes. In fact, the national stalking advocacy service, Paladin, saw almost a 50 per cent increase in stalking referrals when lockdowns began. For those who were being stalked prior to the start of lockdown, nearly half of respondents to a survey confirmed an increase in online behaviours, and a third saw a rise in offline behaviours. Many respondents suggested that their stalker being isolated and bored in lockdown left them with nothing else to think about apart from their obsession. At the same time, arrests have been unable to keep up with the number of offences, as arrests only grew at half the rate of the rise in offences between 2019 and 2020.

Almost half of stalkers, when making a threat, will act upon it, especially when they are known to the individual they're stalking. Indeed, again the Suzy Lamplugh Trust have reported that in nine out of 10 femicides analysed over a three-year period, the killer displayed behaviours associated with stalking. We must act on stalking, not only for the huge impact it has on survivors, but for the threat it poses to life and the impact on the families and friends of those murdered. There have been too many deaths and too little action, discussion and education around this. We owe it to every victim to act on this serious matter.