"A watered-down missed opportunity that will do more harm than good."
That is what stalking victims and violence prevention experts have to say about the government's new proposed stalking legislation.
The Crimes Legislation Stalking and Harassment Amendment Bill was introduced and passed its first reading in December last year to make stalking an illegal offence with a jail time of up to five years.
But while it was praised in some quarters, it is also facing criticism that some of the changes it makes could cause greater harm to victims in the long run.
For almost a decade Zeni Gibson has been stalked and sadistically harassed by a man called Greg, who she rejected when she was 17.
For the first six years Greg spammed her with messages using burner profiles on social media.
Then things escalated to violent threatening online abuse and harassment of her parents.
Zeni said the system failed her.
"I reported a dozen times I talked to multiple people I'm not really talking about one or two I'm talking about multiple officers at various levels of authority failing to escalate my case or take me seriously."
Greg was eventually charged with two counts of Causing Harm by Posting Digital Communication, and one count of Criminal Harassment.
Last February he was sentenced to supervision for 12 months and community detention for six months.
He still continues to harass Zeni and her family.
"Since then, we have experienced dozens of harassment.
"He also, in the time frame between him being arrested to him being sentenced, continued to harass me that entire time, and that's physical at my parents' address or online."
She is welcoming the government's plan to make stalking an illegal offence.
But said the proposal for the bill of three stalking acts in a year would protect stalkers and harm victims.
"In the scheme of stalking 12 months is really no time at all and so in those earlier years, the person who stalked me, he'd pop up and harass me before disappearing for months.
"In the case of those being stalked by ex-partners, there might be anniversaries that trigger these stalking behaviours."
Associate professor of law at the University of Auckland Carrie Leonetti helped draft stalking legislation on behalf of the Coalition of Safety of Women that was provided to government.
She said the fact that the stalking and harassment bill would repeal the criminal harassment act was not uncommon when updating legislation.
But the new stalking bill is more watered down than the existing Harassment Act.
"To be guilty of stalking, the person would have to know that their conduct is likely to cause fear in the victim.
"So, a particularly oblivious entitled narcissistic stalker is not guilty of stalking under the sort of language that the government has used."
Leonetti said this was particularly important for stalkers who targeted ex-partners, in their eyes they believed it was romantic, but it was terrorising for the victim.
And there has been a missed opportunity to update the bill to include modern day stalking and harassment which often has a strong digital element.
"Like contacting the person's friends, family and associates, publishing material about the person online [and] monitoring their electronic communications.
"I mean these are all like very common forms of stalking that aren't in the Criminal Harassment Act now and they're still missing out of the government's stalking offence."
The new bill states the stalking law will be triggered after three separate occasions of stalking, the criminal harassment law was triggered after two acts.
Project Lead for Aotearoa Free from Stalking Leonie Morris said three was far too many.
"We were both surprised and horrified we don't understand why anybody would want to delay intervening."
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith's office has confirmed that if the stalking legislation passed it would be legal for stalkers to harass their victims twice a year.
But they said the new offence has far greater consequences than existing legislation from three to five years imprisonment and so it may be appropriate to require a higher number of specified acts.
And the government would consider whether it was necessary to make further adjustments after the public had had their say and encouraged them to submit at select committee, submissions close on February 13.
