Explainer – How New Zealand’s new anti-stalking laws will work

Source: Radio New Zealand

Explainer – Everybody knows what a stalker is. But until this month, stalking wasn’t officially a crime.

The Crimes Legislation (Stalking and Harassment) Amendment Bill creates a new offence for stalking and will take effect on Tuesday 26 May, after a years-long battle by anti-stalking advocates pushing for change.

“This is certainly a step in the right direction,” said the government’s Chief Victims Advisor Ruth Money.

Here’s what you need to know.

What will this bill do?

For the first time, stalking is now codified as an actual criminal offence under the law. It will become punishable by up to five years in prison.

“The law will protect people against this pattern of behaviour, which has never been done before,” Money said.

Wait a minute, was stalking legal until now?

Not exactly.

Some stalking behaviours were already illegal and could be covered under legislation like the Harmful Digital Communication Act and the Harassment Act 1997, but stalking itself was not specifically defined under the Crimes Act.

The new law lays out what exactly counts as stalking and makes a series of amendments to the Act and other legislation to include it.

“This legislation, which creates a new offence of stalking and harassment, is long overdue,” Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said at the bill’s passing in November. It’s just taking effect now to allow for training and implementation.

“We haven’t traditionally looked after victims and survivors of stalking at all well,” Money said.

“For us to have a stalking law that now acknowledges a pattern of events which many, many victim-survivors were suffering at the hands of, is certainly a transformation within that space, for sure.”

There had been a push to make stalking illegal for years, but the key tipping point for the law changes was the murder of 21-year-old law student Farzana Yaqubi in 2022.

She had made several reports to police about her stalker, Kanwarpal Singh, before her death. The Independent Police Conduct Authority later found multiple failings in how police responded to Yaqubi’s concerns.

“Stalking can culminate in the worst crime, being homicide,” Money said.

In 2024, a petition signed by more than 20,000 people was presented to Parliament demanding a bill to make stalking illegal.

So what counts as stalking?

Stalking is usually seen as repeated harassment and threats. In a policy briefing in 2022, a collection of groups calling for the law noted that “it is a form of abuse”.

“Women are disproportionately affected by stalking, particularly young women, disabled women, rainbow women and likely wāhine Māori, while migrants and ethnic minorities may experience unique forms of stalking.

“The most dangerous, and persistent stalking is conducted by ex-partners of women, with child contact being a particular risk factor.”

The Crimes Act amendments define stalking as anyone who engages in a pattern of behaviour against another person “knowing that it is likely to cause fear or distress” on at least two separate occasions within a period of two years.

The specified acts will include:

• Watching, following, loitering near or obstructing a person
• Recording or tracking
• Contacting or communicating with the person
• Damaging, devaluing, moving, entering or interfering with taonga or property (including pets) that the person has an interest in
• Damaging or undermining a person’s reputation, opportunities or relationships
• Publishing statements or other material relating to a person or pretending to be from that person – which other material from the Justice Committee also defines as “doxing”, or “collating and publishing private and identifying information about an individual, including posting information on their behalf”
• Acting in any way that would cause fear or distress to a reasonable person

It also takes into account acts done to any third party who is known to a stalking target that are done “wholly or partly” because of that person’s relationship to the target.

The law also lays out that these acts could be done in person but also through means including digital applications, drones, spyware, tracking applications or the use of artificial intelligence.

The law also makes changes to other legislation:

• Anyone convicted of stalking in the previous 10 years will be disqualified from having a firearms license.
• The Family Violence Act will now include stalking under its definition of psychological violence
• Restraining orders can be made under the Harassment Act and Harmful Digital Communications Act if someone is convicted of stalking
• Stalking-related aggravating factors can be considered in extending sentences for those convicted of other crimes

What penalties will there be?

If you’re found guilty of stalking you could face a prison term of up to five years.

Constitutional lawyer Graeme Edgeler noted that the law may not stop all stalkers, but it does give anti-stalking measures more teeth.

“Stalking behaviours are already highly deviant behaviours. Those engaging in it probably aren’t rationally weighing up the possible consequences in advance.

“I doubt many stalkers will be discouraged from stalking because of the new law, so if the law is to have effect it will have to be through the police and courts taking stalking more seriously.”

How exactly is it going to be enforced?

Police are “well prepared” for the law, acting director for prevention Inspector Natasha Allan told RNZ.

A constable can now “notify a person in writing that their behaviour is causing, or is likely to cause, fear or distress to the victim and that engaging in that behaviour may constitute an offence”, she said.

“The notice system in the act builds on the existing Harassment Act letters that police previously developed.

“A person can only be charged with the stalking offence once two specified acts have been committed within a two-year period, as set out in the legislation,” she added. “However, a formal notice can be issued after a single specified act.

“This notice is not simply a warning, it creates a legal presumption that the person is aware their behaviour is causing fear or distress. If a further specified act occurs, this provides a strong foundation for police to take prosecution action.”

Police will also be required to inform victims before giving a warning to people who may be stalking them.

“As part of that process police will talk to the victim to discuss their safety and ensure a plan is in place for both when the notice is served and afterwards,” Allan said.

“Our focus is first and foremost on the victim’s safety and wellbeing. We want victims to feel supported and reassured, with a clear plan in place and confidence that they can contact police at any time if they feel unsafe.”

Stalking behaviours don’t necessarily have to involve criminal charges under the new law, Money said, and can involve a variety of court orders depending on the situation.

Money said the select committee process for the draft bill and testimony by victims was helpful in focusing the law and making some changes, such as reducing the threshold for the number of stalking incidents from three to two.

“I was humbled by the bravery and the resilience of the victims who didn’t have to but chose to speak up and share their story with politicians that they don’t know in a scary room.”

Leonie Morris of the Auckland Women’s Centre is the project lead for Aotearoa Free From Stalking.

“This law has significant potential to make stalking victim-survivors and all our communities safer,” she said. “However, its effectiveness will ultimately depend on how it is implemented and resourced by the state.”

What’s being done to get ready for the law?

“Police have made a really concerted effort in a short amount of time to operationalise this new law,” Money said.

“More than 80 percent of staff have already completed online training, demonstrating strong workforce readiness,” Allan said. “Police are committed to ensuring all staff complete this training and work is actively underway to achieve full completion across the organisation.”

Allan said it has been a cross-agency approach with the Ministry of Justice, the Centre for Family Violence and Sexual Violence Prevention and the Ministry for Women.

Some of the clauses in the law could be seen as open to interpretation, such as what constitutes behaviour “knowing that it is likely to cause fear or distress”.

“Where a notice has been given, it creates a presumption in court that the person knows their behaviour is likely to cause fear or distress,” Allan said. “The onus is on the defendant to rebut this presumption on the balance of probabilities.”

Some stalkers may have mental health issues, as well, Money said.

“(The law) will go some way for deterrence for some people but it certainly is not going to help the medically obsessed mental health challenges, for example, but no law will, that’s a health response that’s required.”

Is there a chance that free speech ideas could come into conflict with the law?

Edgeler said “the law already prohibits death threats, and threatening other physical harm,” and the definitions in the stalking law are “a justified restriction”.

“Of course, anytime you give police the power to arrest someone, and the state the power to prosecute some, there’s a risk that someone will apply the law incorrectly or overzealously, but that’s a reason for police and the courts to be careful, not to not have a law dealing with stalking.”

Does the law go far enough?

“The law isn’t quite everything we hoped for – but it is better than the bill that was first introduced,” Morris said.

She said there will be much to be seen in how the law works in practice, and it’s troubling that other services that help victims are facing cuts.

“We need adequate and fit-for-purpose safety and support services for stalking victims – including those being targeted outside of a family violence context.

“We see zero evidence these stalking-response services have been created – while funding has been taken away from general support and services such as women’s centres and women’s self-defence, as well as ACC sexual violence prevention. Overall, the picture is bleak.”

Aotearoa Free From Stalking and others have called for the government to provide specialised stalking advisors who can help victims through the process.

“Addressing this gap must be a priority,” Morris said.

Police said they aren’t introducing such advisors themselves, but “significant work has been undertaken to strengthen how staff support victims,” including engaging with specialists.

“This has helped ensure our approach is victim-focused, culturally responsive, and reflects diverse lived experiences across rainbow, ethnic, and other communities,” Allan said.

Police have also worked with multiple groups and agencies in a coordinated approach to develop public information on the new law, Allan said.

What else needs to be done?

Stalking is being talked about more than ever, with projects such as the new local documentary series Stalked or Louis Theroux’s dive into the misogyny of the “manosphere.”

That doesn’t mean it’s happening less, Morris said.

“It’s unclear what is happening exactly – is stalking more talked about because more of it is happening?”

“Orchestrated campaigns of disinformation and online and offline attacks on leaders who are wāhine Māori or other women and/or queer leaders have massively increased over the last few years, as outlined recently in the Mana Wahine hearings at the Waitangi Tribunal.

“Ideally, the state will work to prevent people committing stalking offences in the first place – for example, public awareness campaigns to increase respect for women, as power and control over women is a key driver of stalking behaviour.”

Stalking via social media also remains tricky to deal with, Money said. Platforms like Facebook, TikTok and Instagram aren’t being held accountable for stalking behaviour that occurs via their technology.

“I think the companies need a lot more regulation and proactive management, not reactive management. There is a lot of things going on in that wild world of technology that needs a lot more regulation.”

Money said that curtailing stalking behaviours is ultimately the work of everyone.

“Ideally, we wouldn’t need the law, right? Ideally there would be prevention in our communities. People would be held to account for their behaviour by their friends – if you notice that your mate’s getting a bit creepy and keeps suggesting to go to a certain bar to follow someone, for example – you know, there are things that we can all do to help people.

Money said she encourages workplaces, universities, schools “to challenge themselves. What are you going to do to keep people safe?”

“Don’t expect someone to ask for help. Be the help, offer help, ask if everyone’s all right, but also call out obsessive behaviour for what it is and try to stop that harmful behaviour.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/20/explainer-how-new-zealands-new-anti-stalking-laws-will-work/