STALKING and non-fatal strangulation are set to become standalone offences under new legislation due to be lodged this year.
Deputy Louise Doublet asked the Home Affairs Minister to provide an update on the progress being made in implementing the recommendations made in the Violence Against Women and Girls Taskforce report.
Published in November 2023, the report found that “gaps” in Jersey’s legislation were “undermining the ability of the criminal justice system to protect victim-survivors or effectively manage perpetrators” – and made 77 recommendations to address this.
Deputy Mary Le Hegarat confirmed that law drafting instructions are being developed to address the report’s legislative recommendations.
“It is currently anticipated that all will be lodged within 2025,” she said.
These developments include strengthening legislation to address online and technology-facilitated abuse.
This will include criminalising the act of taking an “intimate image” of someone without their consent, and creating a new offence of distributing or threatening to distribute an intimate image of someone without their consent.
Deputy Le Hegarat previously said these “intimate images” will include sexually explicit deep fakes.
There are also plans to amend the Island’s domestic abuse law to introduce pre-conviction emergency barring orders.
These legal measures are designed to provide immediate protection for victims of domestic abuse before a criminal conviction has been secured against the alleged perpetrator.
Emergency barring orders are typically issued without the need for a criminal charge or conviction, focusing on the safety of the victim rather than the criminal liability of the accused.
The minister also pledged to make non-fatal strangulation and stalking standalone offences.
Nearly 200 reports of stalking were made to the States of Jersey Police between 2016 and 2021, resulting in two convictions.
