Campaign success as stalking register announced
A long-term campaign to get domestic abusers put on the violent and sexual offenders register on has achieved its goals with an announcement of new measures.
Liberal Democrat Councillor Chris Gloster, a former police officer with 30 years experience on the force, brought the motion to Council in 2020, and worked with charity Paladin which has been campaigning on the changes for years.
He said: “Domestic abuse is a hidden epidemic in the UK. I am delighted to hear that the Government has finally caught up with us, and agreed to make this change to the legislation.
“People need to be protected from domestic abusers, and making this change, which will ensure more people are actively notified about the previous behaviour of a potentially dangerous partner.
“When a campaign you have worked on results in a national change, that will help protect the many victims of domestic violence, it makes your work as a councillor feel more worthwhile.”
The announced change in legislation is Oldham Liberal Democrats second long-term campaign to deal with abuse and sexual offending that has recently resulted in changes to national legislation. Late last year, a campaign that started at Saddleworth Parish Council and was driven on by Liberal Democrat leader Howard Sykes MBE, resulted in sex offenders being banned from holding public office.
A third successful campaign looks to be in the works, after the Government agreed that it would back a Private Members’ Bill to make street harassment a crime.
Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani, who wrote the motion to make Oldham the first council in the UK to back the measure, said: “It takes an incredible amount of work from a huge number of people to make campaigns like this successful, but it’s a privilege to have been able to play a part in it.
“These changes show what is possible. Abuse, harassment and intimidation of any kind needs to be challenged at every turn. These changes can help to save lives. I want to be part of even greater changes in the future.”