Protecting women from the new crime of stalking: the resultsof an European Project

Stalking has emerged quite recently as a social and public problem in Europe and has attracted attention and debate as a topic also regarding its legal aspects.We report an overview on how stalking is legally dealt with in Europe, presenting methodology and first results of a research European Project conducted in the frame of the Daphne Program supported by the European Commission.One key expert in each member state was selected following specific criteria, and their task was to fill in a structured form prepared in order to collect all relevant information about existing specific regulations addressing the phenomenon in each State, or, where specific laws were absent, about regulations under which stalking could be, albeit partially, prosecuted.Following meetings where information was checked for completeness and consistency, and comparison of the completed forms, we present an evaluation of similarities and differences across member states and an outline of the current legislation and practices concerning stalking in Europe.Currently, among all member states only 5 Countries have a specific anti stalking law or laws addressing conducts closely connected to stalking and which can be applied to stalking behavior. In the other European Countries legal instruments are very limited in their application or are totally absent and stalking is not, as such, prosecutable. On these grounds, we will discuss difficulties in the legal definition of stalking and obstacles and problems in the implementation of the existing regulations.