You feel violated': how stalkers outsource abuse to private investigators

"One of her leaving the house, another of her driving her car on the motorway. They had been taken by a professional. Staring at the grainy images, she felt numb. Laura's ex-husband had hired a private investigator to put her under surveillance. On two occasions she had been trailed, with the PI taking photographs of her as he went. Her ex-husband was later sanctioned with a stalking protection order, but the man he hired to facilitate his harassment was never even questioned."

"You just feel really violated, said Laura (her name has been changed). It makes you feel really vulnerable, that it's going on without you knowing. Laura's is one of 30 cases in the last three years identified in a Guardian investigation, which found that stalkers have been able to hire private investigators as part of their campaigns of harassment. In at least three instances, private investigators have tracked women to domestic violence refuges."

"There is no licensing system for private investigators in the UK, which means anyone can advertise their investigative skills without any qualifications or background checks. Many offer matrimonial inquiry services ostensibly evidence-gathering on a partner suspected of cheating. But campaigners have said that these types of services can be misused to harass and track those fleeing oppressive relationships. Laura, a healthcare professional from Kent, had broken up with her husband after 15 years together."

Unregulated private investigators have been hired by stalkers to surveil and harass victims, including taking professional photographs, tracking movements and locating survivors at refuges. Victims have experienced phone location tracking, audio bugs, and repeated trailing by PIs, leaving them feeling violated and vulnerable. In at least 30 identified cases over three years, private investigators facilitated stalking campaigns and in multiple instances tracked women to domestic violence refuges. Lack of a licensing system in the UK allows anyone to offer investigative services without qualifications or background checks, and matrimonial inquiry services can be misused to monitor and harass those fleeing abusive relationships.

Read at www.theguardian.com