State Sen. Andrew Gounardes in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn on Aug. 1, 2023.
Picture by Ben Brachfeld
Victims of stalking — particularly these harassed by strangers — will get extra safety if a brand new invoice passes into state regulation, anti-stalking advocates mentioned on Friday.
Referred to as the CREEP Act — an acronym for Ceasing Repeated and Extraordinarily Egregious Predatory Conduct — the invoice extends civil protections to New Yorkers who’re being stalked, even these allegedly harassed by somebody outdoors of their household or intimate relationship.
Attorneys on the Brooklyn-based regulation agency C.A. Goldberg, which helps the CREEP Act, say new laws is critical to guard many victims who’re at the moment excluded from present safety legal guidelines.
“Presently, a stalking victim in New York has no recourse to get a civil order of protection unless they are in an ‘intimate relationship’ or related to their stalker,” mentioned Jian Hong Shi, a legislative analyst on the agency. “This means a vast number of stalking victims such as students stalked by classmates, therapists stalked by patients, employees stalked by co-workers, celebrities stalked by fans, ex-roommates, are excluded from the law.”
Referred to as the CREEP Act — an acronym for Ceasing Repeated and Extraordinarily Egregious Predatory Conduct — the invoice extends civil protections to New Yorkers who’re being stalked, even these allegedly harassed by somebody outdoors of their household or intimate relationship.Picture through Getty Photographs
Having an order of safety is efficient, Shi mentioned, as alleged abusers should chorus from contacting the sufferer per the courts.
However except a sufferer is expounded to or in a relationship with an alleged stalker, she or he has no civil choices, Shi defined.
“Instead, they can go report the events to law enforcement. It can take months for the police to investigate the matter and only if there’s an arrest is the victim granted protections,” she mentioned. “For various reasons, many victims do not want to go to the police, nor do they necessarily want their stalker arrested. They just want the stalking to stop.”
New York has ‘the worst’ protections presently
Brooklyn state Sen. Andrew Gounardes, who co-sponsored the CREEP Act, mentioned the invoice additionally updates protections from stalking on social media and different web communications.
“Technology has transformed our lives, but in the era of cyberstalking, revenge porn and deep fakes, our laws haven’t kept up,” Gounardes mentioned. “That means survivors of harassment and abuse are getting left behind. My CREEP Act would update our laws to create a new anti-stalking order of protection, enabling civil courts to more easily and quickly protect victims of harassment.”
New York is “behind the curve,” he added.
“Forty-three other states have already taken similar steps,” Gounardes mentioned. “This commonsense policy modernizes New York’s laws to account for the digital landscape where so much harassment now occurs and ensures our neighbors and loved ones are protected both online and offline.”
Shi added that the Empire State leads the nation in having “the worst” protections towards stalking.
“New York is a national leader in having the worst protections for victims of stalking,” she mentioned.
NYS Meeting Member Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, who co-sponsor the invoice alongside Gounardes, mentioned you will need to replace present legal guidelines to make sure all victims can get civil orders of safety no matter their relationship with their alleged stalker.
“New York cannot be a state that is so behind on protecting our residents from the dangers of stalking, including cyberstalking,” the meeting member mentioned. “We have to modernize our laws and my legislation with Senator Gounardes, the CREEP Act, would do that by ensuring that we can issue civil orders of protection regardless of whether someone has an ‘intimate relationship’ with a perpetrator, knows them or not.”
Shi added that C.A. Goldberg helps dozens of purchasers who’re excluded from stalking protections.
“All whose suffering could have been shorter and less traumatizing,” she mentioned.
