Given recent events, I wanted to leave a little update as to why I was taking an extended (possibly permanent) break from Tumblr, rather than just shuttering with no explanation.
It is now two weeks since I was the victim of a vicious, unprovoked doxing by a spurned ex-suitor who had been cyberstalking me for a number of months. My attempt to have Tumblr intervene in the situation was worse than useless. In fact, the official response they sent advised me: “If a contact email address is listed on the blog, we recommend you work directly with the author to have the content in question removed or changed.“ This is not only inadvisable, but potentially highly dangerous - the police were horrified that this was the official line taken in response to a stalking situation.
This directly contradicts police advice on stalking: “Do not respond in any way to calls, letters, or conversations. If you ignore the phone nine times and pick it up on the tenth, you will send the message that persistence pays. Once they have your attention, they will be encouraged to carry on.“
By comparison, I was pleasantly surprised by the way that the Metropolitan Police handled my case. The PCs who took my crime report were sensitive, helpful and took the matter very seriously. (I am, however, aware, that, being White and Middle Class, I have the Privilege of being the kind of person that UK Police are inclined to take seriously.) In many ways, it was a relief to hand the matter over to professionals, who examined the evidence* and concluded that yes, there was a clear evidence trail for stalking and harassment. The most chilling moment, for me, was when the PC looked up from reading the evidence, and commented, “You realise you are probably not the first person they have done this to; and it’s highly unlikely you will be the last.” But it felt very validating to present the situation to an objective outsider, and have not just a friend saying “Wow, that is so not OK” but a Police Officer assuring me “You were right to come to us, this is evidence of a crime.” I don’t know if I’m relieved or horrified that my case fits a textbook pattern of stalking, but this is a known pattern of escalation.
*No, I was not comfortable at having to hand over highly personal emails, screen grabs and print-outs to the Police. But the one good thing to come out of the traumatic and frightening experience of encountering this individual’s 5-page screed was being able to move from “this person has been making me very uncomfortable” without really being able to point to a specific incident, to “Here is direct, written, incontrovertible evidence both of stalking and intention to cause distress.”
The PCs seemed quite clued-up on partner violence, and talked me through the process of what to expect from a police investigation, and what would happen next. If the Perp lived in the UK, the Police would contact them, and deliver an official letter saying (in the PC’s words) “if you even attempt to bother this person again, we will arrest you.” But therein lies the rub. The Perp in this case lives in The States. UK Police have no jurisdiction in the States. (The only way UK Police can serve papers on a US Resident would be to extradite them - we all agreed that bringing this person any closer was the last thing we wanted.) So this has reached a legal impasse; the awkward situation where the Police agree that a crime has taken place, there is now a Police Record of it, but are unable to pursue the matter further.
The Sergeant in charge of the investigation recommended that I attempt to take it up with Tumblr again (providing the Crime Reference Number as evidence that there has been a police investigation) but so far I’ve had no response. Tumblr, repeatedly, do not seem interested in enforcing their own Community Guidelines. I do not want to leave Tumblr; for the most part I highly enjoy the service and have grown very attached to my mutual followers. But given the situation, I will be following police advice and leaving, possibly indefinitely.
Thanks for reading. If you want to help, please publicise how inaccurate, irresponsible and potentially dangerous Tumblr’s official advice to the victims of stalking is. Unfortunately, I am far from the only person this kind of thing has happened to. Imagine, if you will, a teenage girl, too terrified to tell her parents what is happening to her, let alone the police, receiving official advice from Tumblr advising her to contact her stalker. This is hideously irresponsible! Please pressure Tumblr to change their advice and their reaction to these kinds of cases.
Imported from Tumblr: http://ift.tt/1dvyea4
No comments:
Post a Comment