NEWS

Simon Mercep interviews Afnah for TV News supporting the new anti-stalking legislation

What’s the impetus for changing the law now?
Victim advocates have been calling for a specific stalking offence in New Zealand for years, but momentum built after the murder of 21-year-old Aucklander Farzana Yaqubi, who was killed by her stalker in December 2022 after she reported his harassment to police. An IPCA investigation into the police response found it to be inadequate.

According to justice minister Paul Goldsmith, the new law will “provide a list of behaviours that may amount to stalking and harassment, including damaging reputation, recording, or tracking and following or loitering as well as the use of technology in modern stalking methods”.