"A third of Malaysians have faced stalking, and it has become clear that it is something that’s very prevalent, whether online or in person. It restricts freedom, the enjoyment of life, and creates fear for your safety and that of your family. 

One of the key ways an abuser can continue to inflict harm on his victim even when she has moved out of the house is by stalking, either with constant calls, threatening messages, or parking his car outside her parents’ house and watching. Eighty-eight per cent of domestic violence cases faced stalking from their abusers. It's a huge loophole in the Penal Code as there's no provision stipulating stalking as a crime. When we take women to the police to make a complaint or lodge a report, they say there's nothing they can do as parking outside your house and watching is not a crime, even though there have been cases where the stalking behaviour escalated to physical harm and in some cases death.

This is not the end of our struggle. There are three things we need to do. First, we need to raise public awareness about what stalking is, your rights when you're being stalked and also understand the kind of behaviours that constitute stalking. Second, we must train frontliners, from the police to the health authorities, so that they are fully aware of what the law says and their roles in protecting those being stalked. Last, we should continue to monitor the implementation of the law. We will need to continue to encourage women to tell us their experiences with the police when they make reports." 

"The bipartisan support for this bill does indicate increased recognition by lawmakers about the importance of women’s safety, especially in the wake of the passing of the Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill in Dewan Rakyat in July 2022.

Under the Anti-Stalking Bill, repeated acts of harassment that do not involve physical aggression, such as following a person, loitering at their home or workplace, attempting to communicate with the person via any means or sending the person unsolicited items, are criminalised. Once the bill becomes law, survivors will be able to file police reports in line with these legal provisions, and the police will be able to take effective action against such cases. In addition, for cases where alleged perpetrators are being investigated or charged, survivors will be able to apply for a protection order for their safety.

Nevertheless, there are some areas where the bill can be improved. Other forms of common stalking behaviours, such as publishing private or identifying information about a person online (or doxing), interfering with property, or spying on a person should be included, in order to ease reporting to the police and subsequent investigations.

Courts should be given discretion to extend the protection order duration, should they find it necessary to protect their wellbeing and safety. In the current bill, the protection order will only be valid for as long as the investigation or court trial period, whichever is later. Extension of protection orders is not new, and courts presiding over cases of domestic violence under the Domestic Violence Act can make that extension by another year."

“Stalking has become omnipresent as our lives intersect with digital realities. This means that cyberstalking, in particular, becomes far more sinister, with many women and girls suffering in silence due to the misconception that online gender based violence doesn’t impact victims—when in reality it can even lead to suicide and murder. 

As such, it’s essential for the newly tabled Anti-Stalking Bill to be amended in order to cover cyberstalking crimes like doxing to further improve protection mechanisms. It’s also important to remember that cyberstalking is often accompanied by real-time or offline stalking and that not only women and girls are victims.” 

“While the passing of the bill is definitely a step in the right direction, it definitely can be further enhanced. At the moment, it only covers protection while trials or investigations are ongoing. However, we know through statistics that stalking does not only occur as a singular, one-off act, therefore will have to occur at least twice for it to be considered for a redress.

In fact, there is a lot of prolonged stalking that takes place even long past an investigation or a trial period. Although men have also been victims of stalking, women and children are more vulnerable to this—both offline and online—and are more prone to be victims of other misconduct. Hence, the need for further protection and access to redress.”

If you are experiencing harassment from a stalker, call All Women’s Action Society’s (AWAM) Telenita helpline at +6016 2374221 or +6016 228 4221 for legal information enquiries for free online or face-to-face counselling.

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