The crime of stalking is a new type of crime registered by police forces throughout Brazil. The Civil Police of Paraná (PCPR) warns the population to inform themselves about this violation of freedom and to report it immediately if they identify a stalker.
Law No. 14.132/2021, which describes the crime of stalking, came into effect on April 1, 2021, and added Article 147-A to the Brazilian Penal Code, providing for a prison sentence of six months to two years and a fine for the stalker, which may be increased if the crime is committed against children, adolescents, the elderly, or women, or if the suspect uses firearms. The sentence is also increased if two or more people commit the crime against the same victim.
In Paraná, from January to March 2021, before the approval of this law, there were 50 incidents that, due to various characteristics, could have been recorded by the police authorities as stalking, if the crime had already been defined by law. Since it came into effect, 2.113 cases have been recorded, from April to September 2021, 300 of which were in the first month alone.
According to the chief delegate of the Cybercrime Combat Unit (Nuciber), José Barreto, a stalker is someone who constantly pursues another person by any means (including the internet, cyberstalking), in order to threaten their physical or psychological integrity, or restrict, in some way, their ability to move or freedom.
Other attitudes that make up the profile of a stalker are the invasion and persistent disturbance of another person's privacy, now categorized as a crime.
WOMEN
The deputy delegate of the Women's Police Station in Curitiba, Emanuele Maria de Oliveira Siqueira, says that a significant portion of stalking incidents are linked to domestic violence (emotional stalking) and, therefore, women end up being the biggest victims.
“There is also functional stalking, which occurs between people who work or study together, and idolatry stalking, which would be in relation to celebrities, religious leaders, famous players and artists, among others. Only situations of emotional stalking allow, in themselves, for the woman to request a protective measure against the perpetrator of the crime,” he said.
MORE SERIOUS
The chief delegate of Nuciber also explains that before the creation of the stalking law, this type of occurrence was recorded as other crimes or transgressions. “The stalker could be detained, for example, for threats, disturbing the peace, unlawful coercion or invasion of a computer device, in addition to other crimes that can be caused by stalking, such as assault or torture,” he said.
However, with the law, situations of threat or disturbance, for example, when practiced repeatedly and in accordance with the new law, become the most serious crime of stalking, now allowing for an improvement in the service provided by the Civil Police in investigations.
The law on the crime of stalking, which repealed article 65 of the Law on Criminal Offences (which refers to disturbing the peace), brought greater legal precision to the prosecution of those suspected of committing this crime.
“Certain types of crimes can be added to the stalking report if they are committed together with this crime, such as physical and psychological aggression, threats and invasions. It is up to the Civil Police to investigate and seek the best possible resolution, in order to keep the victim safer from then on”, explained delegate Emanuele.
“It is important that people identify whether they are in danger, through the main verbs that describe the law on stalking (to pursue, to threaten and to restrict, repeatedly), and understand how important it is to immediately report the stalker if they feel threatened,” warned the police chief. She explains that, in these cases, the citizen should go to the nearest Civil Police station and file a police report.
FIRST CASE IN PARANÁ
Three days after the law criminalizing stalking came into effect in the country, the Civil Police arrested a 39-year-old man, suspected of cyberstalking a woman in Fazenda Rio Grande, in the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba.
According to the information, the Civil Police reached the suspect after a complaint from the victim, a 26-year-old woman, who stated that the suspect was using intimate images of her to threaten and consistently stalk her. The man was arrested.
Delegate José Barreto also points out that situations such as this first arrest for the crime, in which there is a psychological threat, also fit as a restriction of movement, while the fear that the victim develops when leaving home, and of being found by the suspect, is a type of reaction to stalking.
Source: AEN
