Victims advocates say the Labour Party's commitment to making stalking a criminal offence is welcome, but add it's curious timing given they’ve been talking about it over two terms in government.
As part of its Law and Order announcement on Thursday, Labour said it would "consider" making stalking a crime, but went a step further on Friday by actually committing to it.
Auckland woman Farzana Yaqubi died at the hands of a stalker last year.
"She went to the police [but] she got no support from them and a few days later she was murdered," said Leonie Morris from AK Women's Centre.
An aspiring lawyer, Yaqubi was stabbed 12 times in broad daylight by Kanwarpal Singh, after two years of harassment.
"This is actually a matter of life and death that we have a good law and we have it as soon as possible," Morris told Newshub.
Labour announced yesterday it would “explore” making stalking an imprisonable offence, and by this morning the party went even further.
"Yes, we will do it," said Police Minister Ginny Andersen on Friday.
"We want to create an offence here in New Zealand specific to stalking."
Women's Refuge says it's heard it all before.
"We had a commitment from Minister [Andrew] Little and then again from Chris Faafoi and then it sort of fell off the radar," said Natalie Thorburn, principal policy advisor at Women's Refuge.
Meanwhile, the Coalition for the Safety of Women and Children has been lobbying all political parties, giving them until September 13 to commit to making stalking a criminal offence.
National has indicated it will, and spokesperson Leonie Morris said the only other parties who've replied 'yes' to date are the Greens and TOP (The Opportunities Party).
Seventy percent of their domestic violence clients are still stalked years after they’ve left a partner.
In many cases, the stalking results in more serious attacks.
Stalking is illegal in Australia, the UK, the US and much of the EU, but not in Aotearoa.
It’s a civil offence and victim advocates say police lack the teeth and the tools to deal with it.
"For partner stalking in particular, digital technology really does change the face of what stalking can look like, so it’s really important NZ does move with the times," Thorburn told Newshub.
Labour insists it's onto it, as it brings stalking under the Crimes Act as part of a wider programme underway to empower victims.
"This is quite a complex area to make sure we can prove it in a court of law so it's important we get that engagement from key stakeholders like our Chief Victim's Advisor," Andersen told Newshub.
"They’ve had six years and now just before the election they are finally getting around to thinking about it," said Paul Goldsmith, National's justice spokesperson.
Meanwhile, the Coalition for the Safety of Women and Children has been lobbying all political parties.
It says the Greens, TOP (The Opportunities Party) and now National have committed to making stalking a criminal offence.
But victim advocates say: make it less of a political football.
