Private investigators must be trained to spot signs of domestic abuse and stalking | Letter

"As the manager of a sexual and domestic abuse service, I see the impact of stalking on a monthly basis, not as an adjacent concern but as one of the clearest predictors of intimate partner homicide we have. Victim-survivors who disclose stalking and associated behaviours are rarely paranoid; they are often correctly identifying imminent danger. Extraordinary measures are taken by victim-survivors to stay safe: changing names, abandoning jobs or study, moving across the country, and fleeing into refuges or new areas to live anonymously."

"Yet even these steps can prove redundant if an unregulated investigator is paid to track them. In 2026, it is horrifying that those at the highest risk of serious injury and fatality, located in refuges for their safety, can be found because someone with no licence, oversight or training was willing to take a perpetrator's money. That 64% of such investigators are former police officers, trained to protect victims of crime,"

"A statutory bar on investigators taking on cases involving physical surveillance of a partner or ex-partner, and a duty to decline instructions showing the hallmarks of domestic abuse or stalking, must be implemented. Reforms must also include mandatory training in domestic abuse, stalking and harmful practices, such as forced marriage, and honour-based abuse as a condition of practice."

Perpetrators hire private investigators to further abuse by proxy, enabling physical surveillance and locating victims who take extraordinary measures to stay safe. Stalking is a clear predictor of intimate partner homicide and victim-survivors who disclose stalking often correctly identify imminent danger. Safety measures such as changing names, abandoning jobs or study, relocating across the country, and entering refuges can be rendered ineffective when unregulated investigators accept payments to track survivors. A significant share of investigators are former police officers, indicating a problem of accountability. Urgent reforms should include a statutory bar on physical surveillance, a duty to refuse abusive instructions, and mandatory training in domestic abuse, stalking, forced marriage, and honour-based abuse.

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