That is as may be, but victims of such offending desperately need help too. It will soon be at hand.
Last week, Parliament passed the Crimes Legislation (Stalking and Harassment) Amendment Act, a much-needed and much-anticipated law reform which targets a range of stalking behaviours, including watching and following another person, unwanted communication and damaging another’s reputation and relationships.
Stalking will move from being a colloquial term to being an actual criminal offence; the most egregious offenders can be imprisoned for up to five years for their crimes.
Stalking is a real crime with real and terrible consequences for those at the receiving end of such unwanted attention. At "best" a victim may endure severe mental distress; at worst, they could suffer bodily violence.
The court was told that the offender sentenced on Friday was the subject of nine protection orders. He had repeatedly contacted the complainant in this case by message and phone call, using seven different numbers.
Sadly, this was a far from isolated incident. A cursory survey of the Otago Daily Times database for this year turned up about 100 instances of local court appearances by offenders whose behaviour had been allegedly constituted stalking.
As Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said, this is a law change that is long overdue.
"For far too long, stalkers have been able to harm their victims through unwanted, persistent and repetitive intrusions into their lives, causing serious emotional, psychological and economic harm, without facing legal consequences."
More than 600 people made submissions to the justice select committee when it considered the draft legislation. Many, like "Anonymous H" — not named due to still being fearful for their safety — had fallen victim to malicious stalking.
"Do you know how terrifying it is to open my curtains and see my abuser standing on the footpath? To discover his car repeatedly outside my work? To have to be constantly looking over my shoulder because you don’t want to say enough is enough?," she said.
"It’s exhausting, overwhelming and isolating ... unless you have experienced stalking and violence first-hand, you will not understand the reality and the emotional cost it causes."
As with much criminal law, intent and knowledge will be important is securing a conviction for the new offence of stalking and harassment — which can be in person, digitally or through a third party.
The Crown will need to establish a pattern of behaviour by the accused and then demonstrate that the accused knew that behaving in such a way to their victim would be likely to cause the victim fear or distress.
The requirements for establishing a pattern are not high — two specified acts within a two-year period. Some might regard that as too onerous, but any victim of harassment and stalking will tell you that once is enough, let alone multiple occurrences.
The law casts a wide net, but it has had to do so to capture a wide range of dangerous and intimidatory behaviours.
It also has a safeguard incorporated so that potential offenders cannot claim ignorance of the impact of their unwanted activities.
Police are to issue a formal notification that they believe someone has engaged in stalking behaviour, a device intended to have a two-fold effect — police will be expected to take such claims seriously and offenders are also placed on notice that the authorities regard their actions as serious, not as trivialities.
The Act comes into force in six months’ time. For many it cannot come soon enough.
Let the last word go to "Anonymous E", another whose life has been afflicted by a serial stalker.
"My greatest hope for this legislation is that this obsessive behaviour stops with my generation. This requires work on both victim and perpetrator perspectives and also from society as a whole."
Hopefully, this law change will mark the beginning of the end of stalking.
