Bill to make stalking a crime to be tabled this year

Putrajaya is looking to table a bill within this year to make stalking a crime, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Liew Vui Keong.

"This is a bill on stalking because we find that in this society, an individual can stalk a woman and even though they do not do anything else, by stalking the woman, they are pressuring the woman.

"Usually, when a police report is lodged, the police will use the excuse that this is an issue between boyfriend and girlfriend, but we do not want the police to only act when an incident or a crime is committed against a woman," Liew, who is the de facto law minister, said to reporters today after attending the Women's Political Leadership Conference 2019 in Parliament today.

He said he is looking at a proposed bill which has been drafted, so the bill will hopefully be tabled either in the Dewan Rakyat sessions in July or October.

"There is some form of paper which has been presented to me, so I need to speak with the Attorney-General's Chambers to look at it and get cabinet approval.

"It can be done quite quickly once the papers are all ready," he said.

Stalking is a serious issue affecting women, Liew (photo) added, because it usually leads to more aggressive actions on the part of the stalker over time.

He said there have been studies which showed that stalking victims can become suicidal due to the pressures of being stalked.

The effect of stalking may not be physical, but "the fear is in your mind", Liew added.

Though there are laws in the Penal Code against assault and criminal intimidation, there are none against stalking, he said.

"We do not want to wait until violence has happened and a woman's safety has been compromised, so we must have a law to take care of the safety of women," he said.

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