Finally enshrine protection against stalking in law

In Switzerland, stalking is to be enshrined in the Swiss Criminal Code as a separate criminal offense. Opferhilfe beider Basel welcomes this long overdue adjustment. This also strengthens the protection of victims.

Last year, Opferhilfe beider Basel advised around 80 victims of stalking. Women are affected more than men and are therefore more likely to be persistently threatened, persecuted or harassed, which affects them psychologically, physically and socially.

Lack of a legal basis
To date, Switzerland has no criminal offense for stalking. There is no explicit legal basis for prosecuting the perpetrators under criminal law. Swiss victim counseling centers have long criticized the fact that the current practice is more than unsatisfactory for victims and counselors.

Individual acts of stalking such as coercion, bodily harm and more serious offenses against sexual integrity are punishable in Switzerland. But this is not enough, as a detailed report on stalking by the Federal Office for Gender Equality shows.

Insufficient protection
With the current legal basis, stalking cannot be recorded as behavior that extends over a longer period of time and is made up of various criminal offenses. Also, the individual acts committed are often not sufficient to be considered coercion or to constitute another criminal offense. This is despite the fact that victims are adversely affected. And the current law gives judging authorities a very wide margin of discretion. As a result, judgments are often difficult to understand and the equal treatment of victims is not guaranteed.

Switzerland as a special case
Around half of European countries now have a stalking article in their criminal law. These were introduced in the English-speaking world in the early 1990s. This was followed by Scandinavian countries, Austria in 2006 and Germany in 2007. And the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, to which Switzerland is a signatory, also expressly requires states parties to criminalize such behaviour.

At the fourth attempt
There have certainly been attempts in Switzerland to introduce a corresponding criminal law norm. But in the last 15 years, all three attempts have failed. However, the National Council’s Legal Affairs Committee has now picked up the ball again and submitted a draft for consultation in May of this year.

If the Commission has its way, stalking will be included in the Criminal Code and the Military Criminal Code as a separate criminal offense under the term “stalking”. Stalking is defined as “anyone who persistently persecutes, harasses or threatens someone and thereby restricts their freedom to organize their life.” This is subject to prison sentences of up to three years or fines.

Stalking is given more weight
With this amendment, the National Council Committee aims to provide better protection under criminal law for victims of stalking. Opferhilfe beider Basel expressly welcomes the Commission’s initiative and fully supports the specific draft. “The creation of a separate criminal offense gives the issue the necessary weight,” says Managing Director Beat John. “This will also strengthen victim protection.” Perpetrators can be explicitly prosecuted in future.