'You don't know what reality is anymore'

"Stalking consumes your life completely. You can't breathe, you can't move because that person, whether they're physically there or not, they're in your head all of the time," says a victim of abuse.

Claire, not her real name, was subjected to a campaign of abuse by her former partner who turned up unwanted at her home, stalked her social media, and punched the side of her head.

Eventually, he was convicted of assault by beating, stalking and harassment, and for this year's Stalking Awareness Week, Claire has chosen to open up about her experience.

"You can't live a normal life, because you're second guessing everything. You don't know what reality is anymore."

Claire, from the Medway Towns, has a restraining order against her former partner, whose behaviour took a sinister turn in 2018 after she said she wanted to separate from her partner.

However, she said he turned up outside of her house constantly, bombarded her with phone calls, and stalked her social media.

Claire's former partner also claimed to social services that she was neglecting her child.

This behaviour caused Claire, who said she had not slept properly for "over a year", untold distress.

She said her former partner also hacked into her WiFi and was monitoring her emails, as well as using "the baby camera to watch me, watch my movements".

"You can't even communicate with people about what's going on. Your world becomes so small."

Claire says she began to fear for her life.

The fear that he was going to "carry out those constant threats to end my life" was very real, she said.

At first, the police categorised this behaviour as harassment, but her former partner was subsequently convicted of charges which reflected the true nature of his behaviour.

He has since been released on licence, and while there has been no contact, Claire said she cannot rest.

"I think that I can never fully let my guard down, because he will never let it go," she said.

Sue Dunn from Protection Against Stalking, which began advocating for Claire in 2019, said the magnitude of the offence must be better understood.

"There needs to be a recognition. If a person reports stalking, there is already an escalation - people do not report it if they are not fearful."

Dunn also highlighted the ongoing issue of a lack of specialist stalking provision, claiming the 89 services across the country was "nowhere sufficient to support victims of stalking".

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