Vulnerability, Victims and Free Movement: The Case of Cyberstalking

Abstract

The purpose of this short comment is twofold. First, it is to update readers on the progress of the Commission’s proposed directive on victims’ rights. Secondly, the authors, who regularly work with the victims of cyberstalking, criticize the directive in its current form for failing to make a specific reference to this crime, which has major cross-border significance. The omission of cyberstalking from the list of crimes the victims of which are “particularly vulnerable” is all the more surprising when it is considered how many other crimes the Parliament, for its part, has added to this list. This has now led to the Council’s shying away from a list altogether, thus throwing the definition of vulnerability back to Member States and – we argue – undermining the whole purpose of the exercise which was to allow victims to be treated in the same way from one country to another.